Hear the words of the Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent:

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of Thy Holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. We pray in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Collect for today ushers in the second of the four last things, life itself. Now one of the things that we must recognize is that God gave us life in the first place. The second thing that we must realize is that this life is not all that there is.

Now one might assume that if we are in a Church, worshipping Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ and in the power of The Holy Ghost that we already believe that there is more to life than this world. However, if we each examine our lives we will find that this is not always the case.

Like you, I worry about money and getting to the end of the month before getting to the end of my income. I worry about my health and having the medications that I need to make my life easier, more productive, and more enjoyable. I worry about children and grandchildren. And then somewhere down this list, I have concerns of my eternal salvation.

The reason that this list is constructed in this way is because each of us feels that the concerns of this world are more pressing than where we will spend eternity.

Now I am not suggesting that any of us should neglect eating, or clothing, or anything else that we need to do to survive. What I am suggesting is that we must take the time to understand these needs in the context of eternity. And how can we do this if we ignore what God has to tell us about this life and the next?

Saint Paul in the Epistle for today tells us that we must have hope. Yet, how can we have hope when we are seemly weighed down with the cares of this world? The key word in this question is seemingly, for many of the things of this world are only seemingly important.

The color of our children’s hair is not important, although I have heard many an argument within families about it. The only behaviors that really matter today are those where the consequences of someone’s actions extend beyond this day, or week, or month. If we lose track of that reality we cause ourselves much unnecessary trouble. Yet there are times when we feel like Job, weighed down with all the things that can happen in this life. As he says in Job 7:14 –15:

Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

Job thinks he should choose death over life, because he has lost all hope. Yet, we know the rest of the story and even though he is truly in the midst of darkness, his future is one of renewal and restoration. It is the same with us as well.

Why do we lose sight of this truth so easily and lose our hope for the future? It is because we do not take the time to remember in the words of Saint Paul in Romans 15:4:

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

We lose hope when we lose sight of the truth contained within the Word of God. We also lose a fullness and joy of life that we could have if we did remember the directions contained within the Bible about the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

The life we possess is not ours, for it is God given. Furthermore there is an even greater reason for saying this as Saint Paul tells us in 1^st Corinthians 7:23-24:

Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

I would add to this, do not be the servant of Satan, or money, or lust, or power, or any other thing of this world.

This life that we have is one that Christ purchased for us. He paid the price in His Blood that He shed on the Cross of Cavalry and He purchased us from the devil himself, to whom we had become slaves through our willful sins. It is through Christ’s sacrifice we have been translated back into the Kingdom of Heaven that we had abandoned through sin.

It is through our study of Holy Scripture that, as the words of the Collect for today tells us to “hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,” that we actually do achieve hope. This knowledge of the promised hope of everlasting life allows us to go through the things of this life in a much easier manner than otherwise. Even the terrible things of this world are seen as trials we must go through so that we may spend eternity with our Savior.

This is exactly the message of the Gospel lesson for today. It is a message of hope and a promised eternity of life in Heaven with God Himself. Our Lord tells us that no matter what happens in this world that we are to have hope in the life that He has promised us. He tells us in Luke 21:25-28:

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Our eternal life is closer now than it has ever been before, because we are all one day closer to beginning it. Tomorrow it will be closer still, and every day thereafter as well. Yet, we must not lose our hope and forget this truth. We must read, study and meditate upon God’s Word written, the Bible, for it is there to remind us of the promises made by God’s Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, so that we will never lose our hope in them and in Him.

It is through knowledge of these unchangeable promises of God that we can hope and live a life that reflects joy, and peace, and love. Or we can be like Job at his worst and just throw in the towel. Please read your Bible and reassure yourself that all this will pass and that we will spend eternity in Heaven. Let us choose life and choose to live it more abundantly through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the joy He gives to us every day.

Amen,

The Rev. Canon John Jacobs