Welp, it’s here. 3 days before Christmas and I’ve braved the odds and stopped by 2, not one but T-W-O different Wal-Marts today to get gifts. We’re finished though, and that’s a wonderful thing, especially for my wounded wallet.
It was the first few days in December when I noticed something on our tree. My wife likes to decorate in “themes”. Our Christmas tree this year has all red decorations. Some of my favorite, however, are simple ornaments with words on them. One says “faith”, another says “peace”. But the other night, I looked, and front and center on our tree at the other ornament that simply says, “hope”. The lights were strung all around it as if the word were on a movie marquee just made for me to see. It hit me then like a ton of brick, and it’s chipped at me every day since.
Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of people, but I can’t think of another word that describes it like “hope”. Think about it. All that the Israelites were taught was that somebody was coming one day. They had no idea of how, when, where, or who, but they believed with a great passion that someone was coming to be their Redeemer. Did their faith get weak? I’m sure. They were human. Did they battle doubt? Surely. Did people tell them to give up, that it couldn’t be true, that it was just a tale fathers told their sons? Possible. Year after year, they drudged on to the temple to make the sacrifice for their sins. A father whispered to his son, “It won’t be this way forever. The Messiah is coming.” What kept them believing? Hope. Hope, and a faith that God would keep His Word.
Can you imagine being alive in the time Christ was born? Maybe even being a resident of Bethlehem during that time? Talk about commotion. For many of those folks, hope became sight as they witnessed with their very own eyes the Word of God coming true. God had kept His Word.
What does that mean for us today? Look at the people around you. At work, at church, your neighbors, your friends…if they don’t know Christ, they all look for something to fill a void. They have problems…everybody has problems. Financial, marital, physical, mental. They turn to wherever offers a solution. I see people who have turned to a fad, a drink, a drug, a relationship, even a religion to solve their problems. I heard somebody just this week say, ” I can’t wait until the Christmas party tonight to get plastered and forget everything that happened this week”. I see parents trying to split time up with their children because they’re separated, and won’t be able to spend Christmas together as a family. I see my own friends who’ve buried loved ones this year and can’t bear the thoughts of sadness that the Christmas season brings. What does Bethlehem have to do with all this?
Hope. It brings hope to all. You see, Bethlehem is where the hope of Christmas and the Heart of Christmas meet. He is both the hope of Christmas and the heart of Christmas. For the fatherless, He is the Father. For the poor, He is both the Giver and the Gift. For the wealthy, He is true joy that money can’t buy. For the broken family, He is the love that never fails. For the widow and the widower, He is the Source of Comfort this time of year.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, if you make it out of Wal-Mart with all your limbs intact, first of all be thankful. But most importantly, consider the reason for Christmas: hope. Christ is born. Hope is alive. To borrow a line from Phil Cross, “Redemption’s blood has veins to flow in”. Don’t go through Christmas without remembering the hope we have, and give that hope to someone else this year.
mattbakermusic 