HOPE OF ALL THE EARTH
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT - HOPE
November 30, 2025
SCRIPTURE
LUKE 2:1-3
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
LUKE 2:1-3
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
During the first week of Advent, we celebrate hope-and it's easy for us to see why. Jesus Christ, the hope of all the earth, is born! Jesus is the ultimate expression of the love of God, undeniable proof that we matter, that we're precious, that we're important enough for God to become flesh and move into our neighbourhood.
The incarnation is a message of hope directly from God to humanity. God fully embraced our fallenness and fragility, our brokenness and messiness, all so we could be rescued. This is a message of incredible hope! Yet it came at a time that seemed utterly, tragically hopeless. In fact, Luke takes great care to emphasise the hopelessness of the situation. "In those days," he writes. Those days, when God's people were once again living in captivity and bondage. Those days, when worship of the one true God was openly mocked by the faith systems of imperial Rome. Those days, when the fate of Abraham's children was decided by emperors and governors and kings who cared nothing for Yahweh or his people.
Those days had precious little hope, and it only seemed to be getting worse. The census ordered by Caesar Augustus served a number of purposes, none of which would have inspired hope for the Jewish people. It meant more efficient taxes, which would pay for more efficient oppression. The census was a demonstration of Caesar's power: a single command issued in Rome had repercussions that reached around the known world. And it was a reminder that no one could ever hope to challenge imperial authority.
Yet it was in those days that hope entered the world. It was in those days that the definitive basis for all hope stepped in and began the revolution. And it was in those days that God assured his people that he wasn't finished, it wasn't over—in fact, it was only just beginning.
Many of us find ourselves living in those days. It may not be imperial oppression or the dismantling of the faith community-though, for many of our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world, it is exactly those things. For others of us, those days may be days of sickness, of marital trouble, of financial hardship, or so much more. It's essential that we not compare our suffering with that of others because, whatever those days look like, they can be painful, crippling, even devastating. Those days can take a thousand different forms, but what they all have in common is that they seem to exclude the possibility of hope. Yet we will find, as did the people of God more than two millennia ago, that God does some of his best work in the most hopeless of situations.
So we can have a sure and certain hope that it's not over for us. God is not finished in our situations or our circumstances. He's not through in his work in us and for us. However oppressive those days may seem, our God is greater. Those days do not eliminate our hope. Instead, they create the perfect conditions for us to lean into the hope of God's promise to one day heal, redeem, and restore all creation.
The incarnation is a message of hope directly from God to humanity. God fully embraced our fallenness and fragility, our brokenness and messiness, all so we could be rescued. This is a message of incredible hope! Yet it came at a time that seemed utterly, tragically hopeless. In fact, Luke takes great care to emphasise the hopelessness of the situation. "In those days," he writes. Those days, when God's people were once again living in captivity and bondage. Those days, when worship of the one true God was openly mocked by the faith systems of imperial Rome. Those days, when the fate of Abraham's children was decided by emperors and governors and kings who cared nothing for Yahweh or his people.
Those days had precious little hope, and it only seemed to be getting worse. The census ordered by Caesar Augustus served a number of purposes, none of which would have inspired hope for the Jewish people. It meant more efficient taxes, which would pay for more efficient oppression. The census was a demonstration of Caesar's power: a single command issued in Rome had repercussions that reached around the known world. And it was a reminder that no one could ever hope to challenge imperial authority.
Yet it was in those days that hope entered the world. It was in those days that the definitive basis for all hope stepped in and began the revolution. And it was in those days that God assured his people that he wasn't finished, it wasn't over—in fact, it was only just beginning.
Many of us find ourselves living in those days. It may not be imperial oppression or the dismantling of the faith community-though, for many of our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world, it is exactly those things. For others of us, those days may be days of sickness, of marital trouble, of financial hardship, or so much more. It's essential that we not compare our suffering with that of others because, whatever those days look like, they can be painful, crippling, even devastating. Those days can take a thousand different forms, but what they all have in common is that they seem to exclude the possibility of hope. Yet we will find, as did the people of God more than two millennia ago, that God does some of his best work in the most hopeless of situations.
So we can have a sure and certain hope that it's not over for us. God is not finished in our situations or our circumstances. He's not through in his work in us and for us. However oppressive those days may seem, our God is greater. Those days do not eliminate our hope. Instead, they create the perfect conditions for us to lean into the hope of God's promise to one day heal, redeem, and restore all creation.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
What hopeless days in your own life might be called "those days"?
When you've experienced despair and hardship in your life, what things--large or small--happened in the midst of that time to bring you hope?
What brings you hope today?
What hopeless days in your own life might be called "those days"?
When you've experienced despair and hardship in your life, what things--large or small--happened in the midst of that time to bring you hope?
What brings you hope today?
PRAYER
Write a prayer of hope.
Write a prayer of hope.