Biblical hope is deeper, stronger than the vernacular hope we speak of day to day, as in: “I hope it won’t rain on the day of the picnic,” or “I hope I’ll hear from my friend today.” Biblical hope is sure and certain, grounded in the faithfulness of God. Just look at each of today’s lessons: in the Hebrew scriptures, the prophet Isaiah looked forward to the forthcoming Messiah; the psalmist too anticipated the coming of the Messiah from “the God of Israel who alone does wondrous deeds!”; Paul, in the second lesson, speaks of “the God of hope,” “the God of steadfastness and encouragement;” and in the gospel we hear the Baptist testifying to his certainty of “the one who is more powerful than I coming after me.” Living on this side of Easter, we know we can abound in hope.

As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the in-breaking of divine Love into humanity, as we await expectantly for Christ’s return to us, we can trust that, as a friend in a prayer group once testified, “Our God is a prayer-answering God.” Perhaps the answers won’t come as we might have anticipated or desired, but as we reflect on our lives, we realize that God is a well-proved help in any kind of trouble. We know God is ever at work in the world bringing to fruition, one step at a time, the divine plan where Love is the motivation for all we say and do, where harmony reigns, and where none are excluded. In Advent we can abound in hope.

How and where and when will the Beloved show up? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that our hearts are open to recognize and receive God as the Divine is born anew in our wayward world, that we trust the Holy One to continue to transform us into the imago dei we were created to be. Let us abound in hope.