It’s Monday! We are starting a new week. It’s the beginning of December, the sprint to the end of the year: finishing up those projects, getting the books ready to close … and yes, we are just three weeks from Christmas! Does all that energize you or feel like a weight on your shoulders? Do you anticipate the start of a new year or want to curl up on the couch and let the world pass you by? I will admit to a some of both responses. There are days when life presents me with opportunities that draw me into a new day and there are times when I feel nothing but tired; same old stuff again.
Some of you are old enough to remember a series of Dunkin™ commercials featuring Fred, the baker, who sleepily pushed open the door as he said - "Time to make the donuts." The phrase entered our American language as a short-hand way to acknowledge the grind that life can become.
Advent calls us to renewal and this week we focus on HOPE.
God spoke to the world, sending His Son to restore us to His
family. In Christ Jesus, we become ‘new creations,’ people who are given
a ‘new name,’ with the promise of eternal life. This is our HOPE! And,
we also remember that He promised to return to us to bring His kingdom, to give
justice, to defeat forever the power of evil that blights this world. IF those truths are planted deep into our
minds and hearts, we will not fall prey to despair, overcome by weariness. The Word urges us to "…continue in
your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the
gospel." (Colossians 1:23, NIV)
Hope grows strong when supported by faith and fact - faith
in the love of our Father and resting on the fact of His love and care, shown to
us in Jesus. Many things in our lives will conspire to obscure His love, to
keep us from the spiritual disciplines that keeps our faith intact even as life’s
uncertainties pound on us, sometimes unrelentingly.
Worship is incredibly important, even when we
do not ‘feel’ like it. We present ourselves to God - sometimes in His
congregation in a church building, sometimes as we drive alone in our car, sometimes
in the loneliest hours of the early morning - and we acknowlege His worth. We learn to pray - often without words-
waiting for the Spirit quietly- and faith is made stronger so that our hope is established
and firm.
Our hope for today is shaped around a faith-filled grasp on
eternity. There is false hope that will
disappoint us. If we are tricked by our culture to believe that Self must
served, that real fulfillment will come from more - money, leisure, sex, acclaim,
or recognition - we will start to chase a mirage - exhausting ourselves trying
to find the ‘promise’ we are so certain exists just over the next hill! Peter points
us of the true center of our hope: “be self-controlled; set your hope
fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1
Peter 1:13, NIV) There is more at stake
that we can see in this moment. We are not yet all we will be, nor have we
experienced ALL that God has prepared for us.
What a moment when Christ comes again or we enter His presence at our earthly death. Sin’s power will at last be fully broken. Struggles with temptation, suffering brought by the evil that surrounds us, the brokeness of a world that often does not seem to work as it should - will be gone forever, the ‘grace’ gift of perfection then completely ours. Oh what a hope!
Today, if you are feeling like old Fred, the baker, pushing
wearily along because it is ‘time to make the donuts,’ I encourage you to carve
some time for worship, to look to God, to invite the Holy Spirit to find you
where you are. Simply ask Him to clear
your vision and let you see the hope of His children - the full salvation
freely given us in His Son Jesus. IF
tears come, let them fall. They are language He understands. If frustration
boils to the surface, tell Him with an open heart. If joy finds you, praise Him
and thank Him for renewed HOPE.
The word from the Word is a short and simple phrase. Take it with you into your world today. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." So, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 6:19, 10:23, NIV)
(Video of this blog at this link)
____________________
Where do I go
When there's no one else to turn to
Who do I talk to
When no one wants to listen
Who do I lean on
When there's no foundation stable
I go to the Rock I know that's able
I go to the Rock
I go to the Rock of my salvation
Go to the Stone that the builder rejected
Run to the Mountain and the Mountain stands by me
The earth all around me is sinking sand
On Christ the solid Rock I stand
When I need a shelter when I need a friend
I go to the Rock
Where do I hide
'Til the storms have all passed over
Where do I run to
When the winds of sorrow threaten
Is there a refuge
In the time of tribulation
When my soul needs consolation
I go to the Rock
Dottie Rambo © 1977 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson
Music Publishing, Inc.)
CCLI License # 810055
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