As we reflect on Jesus’ birth in this season of Advent, we usually reflect on four key aspects of our faith in Christ: love, peace, hope, and joy. Here is the third reflection on hope:

IN WORD Out of faith, hope, and love—Paul’s three significant virtues in his famous chapter on love—we generally give a lot of emphasis to faith and love, but much less to hope. Why? Perhaps because of what the English language has done to hope. It can imply a casual wish, an unrealistic fantasy, or a desperate longing.
But the biblical word is much more certain; it’s confident expectation of what hasn’t happened yet but will. And it’s always looking for God’s goodness. Many Christians wish for God’s goodness but don’t really expect to see it in this age. They interpret difficult circumstances as evidence that God is holding out on them, letting them down, or punishing them. They see the world through disappointment, bitterness, or cynicism. They know God is good; they just don’t experience Him that way. At least not yet.
Kingdom citizens are called to be relentless hopers. We are to expect goodness in every aspect of our lives, even when life seems on the surface to be taking a negative turn. We don’t look on the surface; we look deeper and acknowledge that even when we don’t understand, God is good. We see Him and others through lenses of hope, fully confident that the end of the story will thrill us and fulfill us. Instead of seeing the junk in other people, we see the treasures, no matter how hidden they are. Instead of reading the headlines with fear and anxiety, we read them as opportunities for God to intervene in this world. In other words, we read between the lines of life to discern the God we know to be faithful and true.
IN DEED Insist on hope. You may have to retrain your brain to think in different patterns, and you may need to tell your heart to handle disappointment differently than you ever have. Even so, choose hope. Expect the goodness of God in the land of the living. Know the certainty of your calling and His delight in you. And live as one whose hope can never be shaken. “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” – Martin Luther (“Heaven on Earth” by Chris Tiegreen)

There doesn’t seem to be much hope in this world nowadays. In Asia, there is an attitude of “tan ping,” to lie down. Hollywood’s theme of late is dystopic. Even this year’s Oscar winner “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” concludes that we just accept our circumstance and make the best of it. The world has become what Frederick Nietszche concluded would happen when “God is dead”: a loss of Christian values in Western society.
But when Jesus came over two thousand years ago, He changed the world by giving people hope. As people lived in God’s hope, they had purpose and transformed the world. Hope was the foundation of the Protestant work ethic, according to sociologist Max Weber, because work had purpose. It led to progress, a desire for a better society, and a multilateral world.
Christmas is a perfect time to renew our hope, for we are reminded of what Jesus brought into the world. And Advent is a reminder that Jesus will return to fully restore all things. We do not need to succumb to the world’s messages, but must affirm God’s promises and God’s hope.
Are you in need of hope? Take time this week to read Hebrews 10 – 13. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your hope in Christ and enable you to persevere as the vast “cloud of witnesses” have in ages past. Have a blessed week of a deepening experience of Jesus’ presence! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam