Life Without Hope Is---Hopeless?

The Christmas season is striding out December 1st, on the the first Sunday of Advent, and so at the Heart of Longmont we lit the first candle of the Advent wreath.

I suspect the Advent wreath echoes a tradition derived from the Hanukkah candles, as we go step by step toward the darkest night of the year.  That we celebrate the birth of the Light of the World shortly after the solstice seems fitting, whether or not the date of December 25 is historically accurate.  (Shepherds tend their flocks in the Holy Land during the spring lambing season.  Still, Lamb of God, the symbols entwine.)

In the United Methodist tradition, the candles are three purple/blue, one pink, and a white one in the middle. Each candle has a meaning.  Not to keep you in suspense, they stand for hope, faith, joy, peace and love.  I have also heard them named the Prophets Candle, the Shepherds Candle, Mary's Candle, the Angels Candle and in the center, the Christ Candle.

Not too surprisingly, Pastor Dave's sermon today was about hope.

The classic Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," is an illustration of life lived with hope and without it, Pastor Dave said. When life goes differently than we planned and we must give up our dreams, we are faced with the life we actually have, with its limitations and frustrations.  At that point it takes something to have enough hope to keep on living.   

In his despair Jimmy Stewart's suicidal character prays, evidencing the tiniest spark of hope. It takes hope to pray.

Help is sent in the form of a rather bumbling angel named Clarence who helps Mr.  Nice Guy, self-described failure, see the difference he has made.  Without his life, his choices, his sacrifices, his small acts of kindness, the lives of his family, friends and community would have taken other paths, and not for the better.  

We don't know know what God's plan is for us, while we are living it.  But, as the prophet Jeremiah wrote, "God says, 'I have a plan for you.'"

In the ecstatic climax of "It's a Wonderful Life," love, support and appreciation come flooding back to our hero.   Life may not go that way for you and me.  We may never know what good we've done. We don't know, each of us, the impact we have on others.   Our contributions may never be appreciated.  As Jesus often said, "Don't trumpet your good deeds, or you may get your reward in this life."  By implication, this earthly satisfaction will be a paltry one, compared to the reward we are storing up in heaven.  The Hollywood ending may pale in comparison.  I hope.

I believe prayer is a pure expression of hope.  Prayer is hope being exercised, and the beginning and grounding of Advent.

Admittedly, this is my interpretation of Pastor Dave's message. By late Monday the sermon should be up on the church Website, and you can listen to Pastor Dave for yourself, "Christmas: The View from Hollywood."  I'd be interested in your take.