Advent 2025: What do we fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent
We begin the Christian liturgical year once again this Sunday. This Advent, we will ask the question: What do we fear? and reflect on what it means to insist on Hope in this moment in history.
From A Sanctified Art:
Throughout the stories of Christ’s birth, the whispers of angels deliver a surprising message: “Do not fear.” In our own time, we might ask: is it even possible to be fearless in a fearful world? When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi are each called into God’s redemptive story, they do not deny their fears—they move through them. They ask questions, hold fast to courage, trust in good news, and say, “Here I am, Lord.”
When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope?
On Sunday, we will look to the Gospel of Luke when the angel Gabriel startled the old priest Zechariah with the news that he and his wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-13). The passage begins, “during the rule of King Herod.” There was a lot of fear and terror looming in the background during Herod’s rule. In light of our Advent stories, how do we consider the fears we hold during the rules of Trump, Putin and Netanyahu?
As our study guide observes:
Fear can divide and paralyze us, and even be used as a tool for oppression. But what if we formed a different relationship with fear? Can we acknowledge fear without letting it rule us? Might we catalyze our fears into love and action? What if naming our fears helps us see more clearly how God is breaking in and where God is at work?
Come begin this new Christian year as we ask these questions together.
Image credit: Zechariah and the Angel
by Hannah Garrity
Inspired by Luke 1:5-13
32”x20” Paper lace & graphite drawing, backed with cyanotype print
© a sanctified art | sanctifiedart.org
