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The season of Advent has become a meaningful part of worship for me. I didn’t attend traditional, liturgical churches. Over time, though, the Holy Spirit drew me to this sacred practice. Eventually I introduced it to my Pentecostal church. Now as the pastor of a Free Methodist church, I find the observance of Advent to be a beautiful expression of the hope, peace, joy, and love given to us through the birth of the Savior of the world.

The Christmas story, told in Luke 1:26-38, reveals the miraculous coming of Jesus Christ.

As we read through the Old Testament, we see God’s people hope for the coming Deliverer. And now He comes.

The angel told Mary to name the baby, Jesus. Jesus means “The Lord saves.” That was His mission, to seek and to save those who are lost, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Jesus was tied to history. The genealogy in Matthew 1 traces His lineage to Abraham, the father of faith. The genealogy in Luke 3 traces His lineage back to Adam and God.

Each generation held the hope of the One who would to set His people free. Hope is what carried them through.

What is this hope?

It is so much more than wishful thinking or a desire.

Hope is immovable, future-oriented confidence in God.

Hope and faith are closely related because they both require trust in God and His Word. But hope tends to focus on future expectations.

Romans 8:24 explains:

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (NIV).

To hope in the Bible is to firmly place your trust in what God says.

I like this quote: It’s not an, “oh, I hope so,” but rather, “I hope because He said so.”

Mary’s Hope

Mary was a young woman of hope. Along with her Jewish people, she was waiting for the Messiah. The angel visited her and explained how this miraculous conception would occur.

Mary willingly surrendered to God’s plan. She determined to trust Him no matter what.

Mary could have responded differently to Gabriel’s announcement but she didn’t. There have been times in my life that God presented me with an opportunity and I refused. Either because of fear or uncertainty, or not wanting to look bad (to be transparent). God chose Mary because He knew that her heart was turned toward Him. But as a human being with free will to decide, Mary could have said “No.” Mary knew that choosing to obey had a great price tag. As an unmarried woman, she would be shunned. Besides Joseph and her relative Elizabeth, she didn’t have anyone to talk to because who in their right mind would believe her? I imagine that Mary felt alone and isolated.

But she said with great courage and dedication to God, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

This was a powerful statement of hope. At that moment, Mary was not pregnant. She had hope that she would become so. Throughout the pregnancy and delivery, she had hope that all would go well. As she raised this holy child, she had hope that God would fulfill His Word. God spoke through the angel Gabriel that Mary would give birth to the Son of God who would reign over Israel forever and whose Kingdom would never end. This was absolutely mind-boggling but Mary believed His promise. She had immovable, future-oriented confidence. She treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

As Jesus grew and stepped into ministry, His life didn’t look like Mary imagined. At times things may have been confusing or simply didn’t make sense. Life wasn’t pretty like the illustrations in a children’s Bible story book, but Mary held to hope. I don’t want to deviate too far from the Christmas story. But think about all Mary went through during her lifetime. Mary’s trust and hope in God are remarkable. We should be very grateful and inspired for her example. We can learn a lot about hope from Mary.

Hope is one of the greatest gifts God has given us. His promises are designed to inspire hope. It gives us the ability to look at any situation and know that regardless of how it may appear, God is going to come through. Hope originates with God. We hope when we believe God and what He says. Without a doubt, we can place our hope – immovable, future-oriented confidence – in Him.

Mary’s hope is your hope. She trusted wholeheartedly in God. You can trust wholeheartedly in God. God is the God of hope, Jesus Christ is the hope of Glory, and the Holy Spirit is the One who births hope in you.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13 NIV).