The church I grew up in had a special ritual for lighting the candles in its Advent wreath each Sunday. As a family lit the candles, we’d sing just one verse of a song:
Light one candle for Hope,
One bright candle for Hope,
He brings hope to everyone;
Rejoice! Rejoice!
And then the next week for the Candle of Peace:
Light one candle for Peace,
One bright candle for Peace,
He brings peace to everyone;
Rejoice! Rejoice!
And then the next week, Joy, and the next week, Love. I always remembered these four themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love—much more pleasant than the traditional medieval themes for the four Sundays of Advent: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell!—so I thought I’d share a reflection on each one of these each week of Advent, starting with Hope.
The Book of Hebrews says a curious thing about hope. It calls it “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” (Heb. 6:19) When I think about the things I hope for day-to-day—when I hope that the weather is nice, or I hope I get a lot done at work, or I hope that my 3 year old will eat the dinner that I cook—these things don’t seem like anchors. They seem more like wishes. They are the things that can disappoint me, not the anchors that hold me steady through disappointment.
But hope, when we talk about it theologically is something different. Hope is an anchor, and it’s because our hope is not in those little day-to-day ups and downs of life. Our hope is in something greater. Our hope is in something eternal. Our hope is the response to a promise that God has given us.
I’ve always loved one part of the burial service that we have. It’s the last part, which often takes place at the graveside. In the Committal, there’s this beautiful prayer: “In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to almighty God our brother, our sister, and we commit her body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” (BCP p. 501) “In sure and certain hope.” Is a hope that’s sure and certain really hope? you might ask. Is something that you’ve been guaranteed a hope? Is it a promise? It’s certainly more than a wish. But that’s the beauty of Christian hope.
It’s so hard for us to accept those promises that we’ve been given: that promise of God’s unconditional love; that promise of eternal life; that promise that all things will be made new in a new heavens and a new earth, where mourning and weeping and pain and death are no more, where we live with one another and with God in peace and love.
That’s a remarkable thing to hope for. That’s a much harder thing than getting a toddler to enjoy an ordinary dinner. But it’s that sure and certain hope that our faith gives us. We may not find it easy to hope for that every day. We may not find it easy to recognize that we are the beloved children of God. But that’s the promise that we’re given; and that’s the anchor of our souls.