During Advent, we celebrate how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s people’s hopes. But this is only true if our hope is for God’s kingdom to come. If instead, we’re pursuing our own agenda, God’s kingdom isn’t the thing we hope for, but the thing we dread. Jesus is only welcome to us when we’re putting our hope in God’s agenda.

Luke’s gospel records Jesus’ warnings about God’s future judgement. Jesus isn’t speaking about the end of the world (contrary to popular opinion) but about the destruction of the Temple. Luke, writing after the temple has already been destroyed, writes for our benefit. The Temple’s destruction shows what happens when we presume our agenda is God’s. The Jewish nationalists who start a war with Rome, expecting God to destroy the Romans, are pursuing their own ends, not Gods.

We can easily fall into this trap too. When we look to God to fulfill our hopes when they’re not grounded in what he’s doing. Only by putting our hope in God’s agenda can we spare ourselves disappointment when God intervenes in the world. Like St. Augustine who prayed, “Give me continence and chastity, but not yet.” We might see the value of God’s kingdom, but be too busy pursuing what we want to get on board with what God is doing.

Check out last year’s Advent Series