Recent tragedies have cast a pall over the celebration of
Christmas for many. Instead of cheerful
smiles and hopeful dreams, across our nation hearts are breaking.
Hope in dark times
Many of us use the word hope to mean wish or dream. We think of hope as something unreal and
unlikely to occur. We may hope to win
the lottery or to see our historically loosing team take the national
championship. When the Bible speaks of
hope, however, it rings a more confident note. In the Bible, hope is
confidence, it is trusting that in time we will see what we have longed for.
Hope in God is fully secure.
We rarely feel that we need hope when life is peaceful. Only in times of crisis or despair do we
realize our need for hope. Even though
our national conversations in America
rarely recognize the spiritual side of our nature, when disaster strikes we
quickly call for prayer. Even agnostic
people may comment, “our prayers are with you.”
We do have a spiritual side, whether we recognize it or not.
At the time of Jesus’ arrival, hope was in short
supply. Rome
occupied Israel
and had installed their puppet-king, Herod the Great. Herod’s murder in Bethlehem of every male infant under two
years of age[1]
accurately reflects the brutality of his iron rule. Backed by the only world-power of the day,
the people of Israel
had lost hope under Herod. The no longer
dreamed of freedom and had no recourse against oppression.
Then hope pierced the darkness. Shattering the night outside the village of Bethlehem Bethlehem , the city of David !” they declared. [2] Their words announced the fulfillment of over
450 prophecies in the Hebrew Bible (also called The Old Testament), of
Messiah’s arrival and identity.
When Jesus began his ministry he brought the light of hope
to those long locked in darkness, “the people who sat in darkness have seen a
great light. And for those who lived in
the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”[3] We need that same hope this Christmas. Grief and pain have touched our hearts, and
only real hope could pierce this darkness.
The hope we need cannot be wishful thinking. When evil steals the lives of children,
wishing that such things would not happen will not satisfy. While there is good in our world, our world
is unquestionably broken. We are broken.
We do not create our own hope in this world by making ourselves
better. We do not create security by
desperately trying to prevent the next tragedy.
Instead we receive hope as a gift by recognizing that we are spiritual
and that our Creator God has come to earth as Jesus. He came to offer undying hope through all
this life and beyond the grave. He said,
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” [4] This Christmas, hold onto the Hope that Jesus
alone can offer, a hope undimmed by death itself.
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