For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. - Romans 15:4

We all have a general sense of what is necessary to sustain our physical bodies. We must take in enough water. The intake of food is also necessary, though we struggle with the right quality and amount needed. We know that some type of regular exercise is good for us.  Our bodies also need regular rest (more than most of us are getting these days). And when we are sick, we take some medicine or go to the doctor.

But we are less certain or less convinced about how to sustain our souls. We live in times where there is much that seeks to crush us. It can be the external events of the world around us, with all its violence, greed, anger, and strife. Or it could be closer to home as we wrestle with strained relationships and digital distractions. Perhaps it is even deeper as sin continues to rear its ugly head in our lives and we wonder if there is any assurance of God’s love for us.

Yet God has not left us without resources, what some call the means of grace (worship, prayer, sacraments, etc.). Primary among these means is the word of God. The Bible is not a mere collection of nice, interesting stories of morality. As Paul wrote to the Romans, this word is given to us that we might have hope. Part of the way the Scriptures do this is through the manifold promises of God they record. And those promises are at the heart of the Advent season.

Here is how one writer put it:  The season of Advent is a time of endings and beginnings. Advent begins by looking forward to the end - the culmination of God’s saving work, the coming of a new creation, and the return of Christ to reign in glory. Advent ends by returning to the beginning - a fresh chapter in the story of salvation, the opening words of the Gospels, and the birth of Jesus the Messiah. The thread that holds all these themes together is the promise of the presence of God.

The promise of God is woven throughout the Old Testament. During Advent, the Church focuses on the messianic works of the Hebrew prophets. This is especially true of the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Some refer to this book as the Old Testament Gospel. It portrays both the darkness of sin, the glorious salvation that God brings through His servant, the Messiah, and the light of His kingdom, which may seem like only a flicker now but will one day fill the earth.

So, this year, we will be sustaining our hope together as we feed on several passages from Isaiah on the four Sundays of Advent. The world is a dark place, no doubt, but so it has been since that fateful day of our first parents’ disobedience in the garden.  So it was in Isaiah’s day and yet while acknowledging the darkness, he reminded the people that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined (Isaiah 9:2). Perhaps the Apostle John had this verse in mind when he wrote, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5).

Join me this Advent season as we are encouraged by the written word, in both our individual reading and through the proclamation in Lord’s Day worship. And may we through the written word proclaimed encounter anew the living Word, even Jesus the Messiah, who is the light of the world.