Hope that Inspires
“Stay awake, that you may be prepared.”
Over the Thanksgiving break, I visited with my family
and I was able to watch a show that I have been wanting to watch
for some time but have never been able—Ted Lasso.
For those you who do not know what it is,
Ted Lasso is on Apple TV and it is a comedy.
It is about an American, managing an English soccer club.
Actually, it is a very funny comedy.
I didn’t binge watch the whole series
but I only watched one episode toward the last of the first season.
This is not a spoiler alert if you want to watch from the beginning;
the team is facing relegation
from the first division to the second division.
If you know anything about English football,
there is a Division One that is a premier league
and that is what it is all about in England.
In any case, the team is getting relegated
and they are playing Manchester United in their final game of the season.
If they either draw or win then they stay in the Premier Division;
if they lose, they get relegated.
Ted knows nothing about soccer and wonders why they call it football!
Nevertheless he is trying to convince his team
they have a hope of winning.
Ted is trying to manage the team
even though he knows nothing about soccer.
They are all despondent that they are going to get relegated.
Ted hears that they have a saying in England:
“It is the hope that will kill you.”
He is confused and challenges the players.
“The hope that will kill you?
That doesn’t make any sense.
That’s the exact opposite of what we believe in the US,” he says.
He challenges them saying,
“You know, I hear this English phrase,
which I don’t agree with it at all,
that it’s a hope that will kill you.
That is not true.
It is the hope that will keep you alive.
It is the hope that gives you life and fire.
He continued, “To have hope, you have to believe.”
He puts the word “believe” all over the place.
I thought it was a great little talk he gave the team
because it is the very theme of Advent, which we celebrate today,
the theme of hope.
And it is not that hope will kill us.
It is the very hope that keeps us alive.
Now hope is used by a metaphor for us which is the light.
St. Paul says the hope is the light of the world;
we are called to be this hope.
We are called to be the light in the middle of the world;
we are called to be the one to bring the light to others.
And when we believe, we give hope to others.
When we believe, we trust and believe in others;
we give them this hope to be.
What does that look like?
On our first Sunday of Advent,
it’s all about this right in-between time
because we recognize we are preparing for Christmas
on the one hand to celebrate the birth of Christ.
We are also preparing for the Parousia,
which gets translated in today’s gospel as
“the coming of the Son of Man.”
That is the Parousia.
You may have often heard the term. It is a Greek term.
It gets translated as the coming of the Son of Man.
And what does that mean?
It is often termed as the Second Coming
but it is about recognizing that God is among us;
God will come back, and we will be united with God.
We live in these in between times.
What we are called to do is
to be present to the essence of God here and now;
be present to the essence of God here and now.
That is our challenge.
How do we do that?
We are called to be present to this present moment.
And that we choose to believe in Christ;
and we choose to be the light to others;
the light in the darkness.
So, what does that practically look like?
We give a smile to somebody who is having a hard day;
or maybe if you know them really well
and they are a loved one then maybe it is just a hug;
maybe there are no words necessary.
We hold them and allow them to get through this day.
We become the light to them.
It is about believing that our world can be a better place
and that we have a role to play in
that by being the light to others;
by being the light in the darkness.
In an often-darkened world that is covered
with selfishness and self-indulgence,
we are called to focus on others;
we are going to focus on loving;
we are going to give ourselves away
in gentleness, kindness and forgiveness.
That is how we are the light.
There is a beautiful song written by Ed Bolduc
that talks about being the light in the midst of the darkness.
I am going to ask Tamami and Jed
to play and sing this as a closing to this homily
because the words are perfect for us today;
listen to the words and let these words soak into your soul.
May we learn that the hope is given to us by Christ
and our role is to pass it onto others;
we are called to be the hope;
we are called to be this light in this world.
Let us finish with this song:
Be the Light by Ed Bolduc
Verse 1
We are waiting in the darkness
Our souls still long for the light.
Your very promise is a candle
That leads us through the night.
Verse 2
As we await the birth of Jesus
Help our busyness recede.
Turn our dark days into brightness
Peace and joy the gifts we need.
Chorus
Be the light shining bright
Turn our nights back into day.
Be the peace we want to know
Son of God, Love Divine
Come into our lives
and be the light.
Verse 3
Meek and humble we await you
Our hearts are open, we long to receive
Come Lord Jesus dwell among us
Guide us in the life we lead
Bridge
O come, O come Emmanuel
The love of God Emmanuel
Come, O come Emmanuel
Our God is with us
O come, O come Emmanuel
The love of God Emmanuel
Come, O come Emmanuel
Our God is with us