The Advent of Christ: Hope in Christ - John 1:1-18

This Sunday marks the first day of Advent. During the Advent season the Church enters a season of waiting. Waiting is profoundly countercultural; we don’t have to use our waiting muscles much anymore. Black Friday starts in October and Christmas starts before Thanksgiving; for $2 more our packages can arrive at 4:00am the next day. The first Advent was a time marked not by celebration and twinkling lights but by darkness and longing for Christ’s arrival and redemption. Before Jesus came in that manger, long lay the world in sin and error pining. The thrill of hope was in the air, but a weary world was not at the rejoicing part yet. It’s hard to remember what waiting was like for something you already have. We already have what Jesus came to offer; we no longer have to wait in darkness. But Advent still disciples into us the ability to wait and to long for the completion of what we have in Jesus as we wait for His return. Longing is not the same as waiting a mere 12 months; longing is waiting a lifetime, waiting until we are weary. Longing carries with it the temptation to give up hope in a way that simple waiting does not. What are you longing for? In the weeks of Advent to come, we will look at the four traditional themes celebrated by the Church around the world for over a thousand years: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Let’s look at our first Advent text together this morning and see where the hope of Christmas lies in John 1.