Excerpted from 2024 Advent Guide: Hope is Near, an Advent Guide for Lectionary Year C from the North Carolina Council of Churches.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 & Luke 21:25-36
How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
In the first week of Advent, we root ourselves in hope while absorbing and sorting out our way forward in the face of threats—political, environmental, and social—and the real struggles of our everyday lives. North Carolina is reeling from the $53 billion impact by Hurricane Helene in Western N.C. We have an economically and socially tough working environment. And we’ve weathered an election cycle with the high stakes of selecting the next President, Governor, and Lt. Governor as well as the state’s Attorney General, Superintendent for Public Instruction, and multiple General Assembly members.
The words from Luke’s gospel resonate with our reality: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catches you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape [to grapple with] all these things that will take place . . .” (vv. 34-36).
In the season of Advent, we are called to wait while actively preparing—to “be on guard.” It’s a matter of both vision and imagination. We lean into hope and show up to do what needs to be done. We strive to live into God’s call for holy hospitality.
Paul’s instructions for the people of Thessalonica offer further guidance for standing on the solid ground of hope: “May God make you increase and abound in love for hope: “May God make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may God so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (vv. 12-13).
