December 18, 2025

This Sunday is the final Sunday of Advent and our wait is almost over. Christmas is just around the corner. In the last year, it seems that so many of us are living in dread. So many of us look at the world, and we see so little to look forward to, so little to give us hope. As Christians, though, hope is one of the abiding gifts we have to share. When politics fails us, when we lose trust in science and technology, when communities become divided and culture collapses, we still live in hope. The difference is that while we hope for the world, our hope is not in the world, but in the Holy One who made it, and holds it. Our hope is in the One who loved the world enough to unite with it, to enter it, and to share its death so that in love it might share eternal life. 

Bishop Akiyama’s last visit with us was in 2023. It was an occasion full of hope, as she confirmed and received new Episcopalians and celebrated my new ministry as Rector of Resurrection. At her most recent visitation this past Sunday, she was somewhat stunned to find our Resurrection community even more bright and hopeful than she did at our celebration two years ago. As the world darkens, Resurrection shines brighter and brighter. We stand at the stable with our candles lit and we watch and wait and hope for the Holy One to come. We stand at the tomb and in the face of death we dare to hope for new life. We look up into the dark and clouded sky and we wait expectantly for the Light of Life to return. Our hope is not in the world, but in the Word and the promise that the dawn from on high will break upon us to shine on those in darkness and in the shadow of death. Resurrection is not just an Easter people, we are an Advent people, and we have what the world needs most. Light your candles in the darkness and let them shine!