In early November, a youth in our congregation asked me: “Pastor, when do we start Advent?”
The question took me by surprise for two reasons:
1) I could tell that this youth as really looking forward to Advent, and
2) the way he phrased the question made the implication that Advent wasn’t just a season of the church year, but was something we “do” together as a church.
After asking the question, I gave him the answer he was looking for: the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 29. But then I had a question for him: Why are you looking forward to starting Advent?
At first I was given the answer that the season of Pentecost had been really long (which, is quite true!), and that it was time for a change. But then he continued, and said something to the effect of, “Given everything that’s happened in 2020, it seems like we all need a little hope right now.”
We all need a little hope right now. Isn’t that the truth? 2020 wasn’t the year we were expecting. And even if we’ve been able to find opportunities, and blessings within the past year, it doesn’t negate the reality that it’s been difficult to look beyond the present moment. Each moment, each day, each week, has constantly been changing. It’s been hard to know what to expect and when to expect it. So hope? Look to the future? That probably hasn’t been at the top of our 2020 “to do list.”
But in conversation with this youth, he reminded me that yes…we all do need a little hope right now. We need to exercise our hope muscles and dare to look to the future, even when what is right in front of us—in the present—is just as uncertain as the future.
So for this season of Advent, that’s what I’m challenging you all to do: exercise your hope muscles with me by dreaming. Yes, dreaming. It might seem like an odd spiritual practice to take up during Advent, but I encourage you to try it out…and be honest with yourself. Because if you take a moment to think, I have a feeling you might find within yourself something you’re dreaming of…
· Dreaming of a day when you don’t get a text or a call from the school district with a change of plans
· Dreaming of a day when you finally feel caught up, or, a day when you finally have something to put on the calendar again
· Dreaming of family get togethers
· Dreaming of a touch: a hand on the back, a hug
We all are carrying dreams within us this Advent—big and small. And as humanity, we have even more dreams:
· Dreams of hope and of peace
· Dreams of joy and of love
· Dreams of God’s kingdom come…here on earth.
Well, this season, it’s those dreams that we’ll be focusing on in our Sunday morning worship. But I encourage you to take this practice of exercising your hope muscles one step further. Instead of stopping with worship, dare to let yourself dream as you approach the rest of your week. Ask yourself: what would hope look like in a moment like this? Or: if God’s kingdom were to come here, into this place and time, what would it look like? In doing so, you’ll be exercising your hope muscle. And in so doing, you’ll not only be going through Advent as another season of the church year, but you’ll be “doing” Advent in your daily life as you prepare for the coming of Christ our King.
All of us do need a little hope right now. We need something to look forward to, and something to dream of. But the good news? It’s that our dream will be born to us, so we can hold it, and touch it, on Christmas night. So in the next few weeks, come and journey with us, and dream…dream big.