"As people were filled with expectation. . ."

Hope is a central theme of Advent.

Emily Dickinson wrote:
Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all.

Garrison Keillor in his new book Good Poems, writes:

"Visit Emily Dickinson's grave in Amherst. . .she lies beneath a stone that says "Called back" and here weekly strangers come as grieving family, placing pebbles on her big stone. . .there are few graves in America so venerated as hers. . ."

When you give hope some feathers, you are going to have friends in this world as long as English is read.

Let us pray.
O Little town of Bethlehem. . .the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Startle us, o God, with your truth and open our hearts and minds to your word, that hearing we might believe and trust you with our lives and submit our will to your will. In the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Each year on the second Sunday of Advent we meet John the Baptist: "A voice crying in the wilderness - prepare the way of the Lord." Saint Luke tells us that John, the son of Elizabeth and Zecharia, and Jesus were cousins. Saint Matthew says that John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. Not exactly the type of person you would bring home for Sunday brunch, unless you had an ample supply of locusts.

John was an austere figure there in the wilderness around the Jordan River. Not pulling any punches, saying to the crowd gathered to hear him: "You brood of vipers - who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Some of you like to find a verse of Scripture for your Christmas card. Consider this: "You brook of vipers - who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year."

John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John does not use the language of therapy which is so popular today. He does not urge people to re-invent themselves. He calls sin, sin. Amazingly, given this no-holds-barred message, people responded. Saint Luke writes: "The people were filled with expectation." I prefer the earlier translation: "People's hopes began to rise." Yes, when you give hope some feathers you are going to have friends in this world.

The gift of Hope is a central theme of Advent. Saint Paul in the beloved 13th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians gives us that marvelous trinity of values: faith, hope and love. In his earlier letter to the Thessalonians he places these qualities in a different order, giving first place to Hope. Hope, Faith and Love - they are always seen together. As has been pointed out by others, if we were to divide them according to the church year we would assign Love to Lent, Faith to the great season of Pentecost, and Hope to the season of Advent.

Advent is the season of waiting and watching, the time of expectation and anticipation - it is hope that gives meaning and purpose to our waiting. Advent is about the gift of Hope! What is this hope all about?

It is not optimism
It is not stoicism
It is not whistling your way past the graveyards of life
It is not a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity

Hope for the Christian is not a passive quality. Christian hope is grounded on the faith conviction that the God who came to us in Jesus Christ will come again in power and justice to redeem the world and save it from itself. This gift of Hope shines through most clearly at Advent in the wondrous proclamation: Emmanuel - God with you.

Hope is confidence in God's future! It is not confidence in our future, in the face of our capacity to destroy ourselves with the push of a few buttons.

You have heard the saying, "I have seen the future. It is very much like the present - only longer." Scripture proclaims that God's future is not simply more of the same; it is a future of which we have had not nearly enough. . .the future belongs to God!

The church and each of us as members of whatever church we call home can best minister in this day of peril and promise by proclaiming this Advent gift of Hope, and by living so we inspire a faith and confidence no fear can ever suppress. Worship and pray together as often as possible, but most of all, live your life witnessing to the truth that the church is a place where perfect love casts out fear. In the days which are to come do not forget the words, for they are true, "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

As Auden says in For the Time Being:
"Let us therefore be contrite but without anxiety. For powers and times are not gods but mortal gifts from God. . .For all societies are transient details transmitting an everlasting opportunity that the Kingdom of heaven may come not in our present and not in our future, but in the fullness of time."

The Christian hope is based upon the assurance that the God who came among us in Jesus Christ will not abandon us in that future into which God not only calls us, but goes on ahead to prepare a place for us. This is why we do not despair in the face of the darkness of this present age. This is why we do not quit after watching the evening news when so many nights it seems worse than the night before. This is why we do not give in to anxiety and fear or are not fooled by false optimism. For we have some idea of who we are and whose we are as the children of God. We have some idea where we are because we have some notion of where we are going and who is leading us onward.

And so in the midst of this world's darkness we are able to sing: "O little town of Bethlehem. . .the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

When you give hope some feathers you are going to have friends in this world forever.

In the spirit of the Christ Child, Amen.