Advent II: What are we hoping for?
The Dean of Westminster talks about the traditional themes of Advent and how Isaiah helps us identify our hopes for God's future.
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster
Sunday, 7th December 2025 at 12.15 AM
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A reading from the Book of Isaiah:
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea
The first three weeks of December bring Christmas lights and Christmas trees, cards arrive, there are parties and there is Father Christmas. These though, are weeks of Advent and the old Advent themes are very different. This used to be the season to speak of Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell.
Christ’s coming, the Day of the Lord, is a day of reckoning. It is a day for truth and glory; a day when the light breaks in and we see the depths and dangers in the darkness. So, when the prophets looked forward to the coming of the Kingdom, they spoke of Judgement and asked us ‘are you ready?’
Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. Most of us can conjure up images of judgement and even punishment. Gruesome pictures of hell are all too familiar. Oddly, they are often more lively than our images of heaven. We know what sin and punishment look like. Ask us to describe our hope, however; ask us to paint a picture of righteousness and we struggle. We perhaps forget that here too the prophets can help us. Prophets speak of judgement and they can also describe our hope. Our passage from Isaiah does just that.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
Notice the character of the promise Isaiah makes. It is peace. There will be an end to violence. Those who are downtrodden will be lifted up. There will be justice and an end to exploitation. The chaos we see and fear will give way to something very different - the spirit of wisdom and understanding.
Advent is above all a season of hope. That hope must be informed. We should know what we hope for. We should be able to describe it. We should live it. Isaiah shows us how.
