“Hope as Protest”

Two Decembers ago, I read these words–the title from day 1 of Kate Bowler ‘s advent devotional-and I couldn’t read on for awhile.

It reminded me of the words the pastor shared at Doug’s brother’s funeral. She said that remembering and celebrating Tom’s life was an act of the hopeful resistance against death we have in Jesus Christ.

Hope as Protest.
Hope as resistance against Death.

It struck me that hope could seem passive, but lived out, it is not.
Hope is what made us not abandon this tree when it was smashed by a car that veered off the road and into our yard a few years ago. It appeared to be a fatal hit—knocked over flat to the ground with roots torn away and bark shredded by the violence.
We protested death by lifting it back up. We resisted death by staking it with extra support. Today it still lives, healed—scarred, yes, but growing and alive. Soon, it will burst forth in its pink blossoms of Spring.

In Advent, we wait in hope as we remember when the Hope of the World came the first time.
During Lent, we wait for His return to life Easter morning.
Now, we wait for His final return.
May I engage in more acts of hopeful resistance against death, dying, and evil as I wait for Jesus’ return.
Romans 5:5-Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.