I realized after typing that heading and putting smells and stockings in the same title could misdirect where this article is going but I decided to leave it there anyhow. All three of these things have something in common (at least in my mind). They are all symbols of hope. I regularly walk into the house this time of year to a sweet aroma of whatever Sari is baking that day. Cookies, candies, pumpkin rolls, pies, the list goes on. All of those smells bring hopeful feelings that those delectable treats will find there way past my taste buds. And those stockings…well…

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

And those boxes under that tree in the corner of the living room, each one of them represents the hope that something from my Amazon “Dad’s Christmas Wish List 2023” will appear.  Hope is one of those words that gets used so much, I am fearful we have lost the impact of what it really means.  So often it is used as a synonym for ‘a wish’ or in hoping like there is a 50/50 chance what is hoped for will happen. I hope but am not certain.

When Paul uses the word hope in writing to the churches, he uses some form of the Greek word elpis. And each time the word doesn’t carry with it the idea of wishing or ‘what are the chances’, it carries with it a confidence, an expectation, a trust that the thing hoped for will happen or is true. Like when he writes the Galatians, “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. (Gal 5:5). Or to the Colossian Church,“if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard…” (Col 1:23) This word hope is closely tied to faith. Remember that well known biblical definition of faith given to us by the quill of the writer of Hebrews, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)  That is not an author using wishful language. That is a man standing firmly, confidently in his hope. 

And rightly so because any time Paul uses that word as a verb, pointing to an object of hope, it is always that same object.
Ephesians 1:12, “…to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ.”
Philippians 2:19, “But I hope in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you shortly”
And the Psalmist 38:15, “For I hope in you, O LORD; You will answer, O LORD my God.”

You see hope is only as certain as the object of that hope.  Now, 37 years of marriage have given me a high level of confidence that those smells coming from the kitchen are going to lead to something amazing. And 59 Christmas’ have given me a high level of confidence that whatever appears in those stockings and in those boxes will not disappoint. But let’s be honest, I have smelled smoke in the kitchen and I have needed the receipt on a few of those boxes. But I have never been disappointed when I have trusted, hoped in Jesus.

This first week of Advent centers around this message of Hope. What is the reason for your hope? How certain are you? When we give our life to Jesus and place our trust in him, then we have true hope! Make Jesus the soul reason for the hope you have in this life. Jesus truly is the reason for the hope we have.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!”  Romans 15:13