Light first purple candle - The Hope Candle
A longed-for pregnancy finally happens, only to end in miscarriage; addiction wreaks havoc not only in the addict, but all that love him/her; an engagement to be married is broken, the wedding cancelled, after a year of preparations; sibling rivalry, perhaps cultivated by a parent’s preferences and favoritism, results in judgement, jealousy, comparison, distance, even violence. During these heartbreaking seasons of sin and suffering, it is difficult to believe that we are seen and known by a Good Heavenly Father. We are tempted to give up hope in our God whose presence provides and protects. We read from Psalm 30 and feel targeted by God, rather than protected:
“Sing to the Lord, you his faithful ones,
and praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may stay overnight,
but there is joy in the morning.”
(Ps 30:4-6, emphasis mine)
Joy? Hope? These seem elusive, slipping through our fingers like loose sand on the beach, unable to make anything out of it. In today’s reading, (and it is long, but please don’t skip it) we get a glimpse into the unhealthy dynamics of the first family, the devastating consequences of the sin nature the first siblings were born with, but also the hope that remains alive as God’s promise of Messiah continues through the generations.
* Read Genesis 4-5
Chapter 4 reads like a Hollywood movie script, quickly developing the main characters and drawing us to identify with one or more. Adam and Eve play supporting roles as parents to the two main characters - Cain, the oldest and antagonist in the story, and Abel, the young protagonist. Both brothers are born with a sin nature, the result of their parents’ original sin. This is the first generation to need to fight against their instinctual tendency to doubt God’s goodness, to go their own way, to sin and cover up, hide and blameshift.
Cain is humiliated and angry when his sacrifice is not accepted by God, while his younger brother’s is. Eventually he gives into his anger, lures Abel out into the field and kills him. His crime does not go unnoticed or unpunished by God and Cain is banished from the family and driven far away. Still, God is gracious and merciful to Cain. He places a special mark on the murderer so that he would not be killed himself.
I don’t know about you, but I’m left feeling so sad for Adam and Eve. Within one day, they have lost their two dear sons. Abel is dead and Cain has been driven out of their community. I can’t imagine the grief that their parents felt. I wonder how long they cried, screamed and sat in silence, terribly depressed. But eventually “Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” A son was born to Seth also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.” (Gen 4:25-26, emphasis mine) God’s giving Eve another offspring in Seth is clearly an allusion back to the offspring of the woman that would crush the offspring of the serpent’s head in Genesis 3:15. Equally important is the potential of Seth’s birth highlighted by the observation, “At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord,” and seek him in public worship. While details are not given, the implication may be that this calling on the name of the Lord began in Adam’s own family circle. The hard reset would start with Seth’s birth and new hope would flow through his bloodline.
“Adam was 130 years old when he fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.Adam lived 800 years after he fathered Seth, and he fathered other sons and daughters.So Adam’s life lasted 930 years; then he died.” (Gen 5:3-5)
* Sing Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus(see page 15 for lyrics)
* Reflect
* What has happened in your life, long ago or recently, that has left you feeling devastated, wondering how God could be good and allow this sorrow to come into your life?
* In what areas of your life - your relationships, your work/calling, your physical/emotional/spiritual health - do you need a hard reset and new hope?
Pray as you listen to Ellie Holcomb’s Advent hymn, Hope is Alive. Make the lyrics your own as she sings of the comfort and healing of God’s love, reaching into our aching and brokenness, filling the emptiness and making us whole. Even in the midst of suffering, of wandering, hope is alive
