Hope Is Worth the Risk 

Hope is vulnerable and can feel like a tremendous risk, especially if you’ve experienced loss or trauma. But Mary shows us a resilient hope that takes risks—she risks her body to bear a son who will become the hope of her people. Similarly, Joseph makes a risky choice to stay with Mary; dismissing her quietly would have kept him safe. But instead, he chooses hope. He chooses to trust the angel, and it makes all the difference. It can feel safer and easier to be a cynic, but the world doesn’t need more cynics. It needs people who say, “It can be better,” and make it so.

It’s easy to give hope a bad rap. Have you ever found yourself resisting hope because you fear that if you get emotionally invested, then you might “jinx” the situation and be disappointed? Have you ever endured a deep loss or trauma that made you cynical or hopeless? What if hope is not a flimsy emotion dependent on outcomes, but a robust spiritual practice? Could we instead think of it like a muscle we can flex and strengthen? We recognize that the practice of hope is not easy, especially if you are enduring unthinkable suffering like war, oppression, or famine. Can we practice hope on behalf of those who are weary and worn down? Can our expressions of hope become a life raft for others? This week’s texts (Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38 and Luke 2:1-20) give us examples of hope in action. Both Mary and Joseph each have a lot they could lose, respectively. Yet, they choose radical acts of hope—and the world is better for it.

We give thanks to our partners at A Sanctified Art for the Words for the Beginning theme and resources that have shaped our extended Advent this year. Today’s reflection comes from their Sermon Planning Commentary. — A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org