DownloadDec. 14, 2009 issue
Hope of Christmas in a world of woe
The longing of Advent came early for many of us this year. Amid economic recession, war and strife around the globe and in our communities, we desire Christ’s coming.
We remember loved ones missing from around our tables this Christmas. We mourn ongoing conflict and oppression in so many places. We feel the sting of lost jobs, income and savings in our families and churches, and among our neighbors.
We need the renewed hope of Christmas morning to break into our tiredness and despair.
The prophet Isaiah spoke to a weary people in exile, and speaks to us today, exiles in a strange land. Isaiah promises, “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together” (40:4-5a).
It is difficult to imagine such transformation when we look around us. President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan dashes hopes, at least for several years, of an end to the U.S. military campaign there.
The announcement also is a setback for those who expected substantial change in U.S. foreign policy, and a focus of economic resources on human needs in our country and abroad.
Yet Christ was born into such a world of woe, to a poor family in an occupied land. He was lain, newborn, in the lowliest of places, with a murderous tyrant seeking his death.
Despite such strife, we can picture the hope of Mary and Joseph as they held the infant and imagined how the angel Gabriel’s promises would come to pass.
We remember those amazing deeds would not take place in the expected way. The Messiah was not a powerful warrior, but a helpless child. He would show in his life and death how one can claim greatness only by being a servant of all.
So it is now, that our hope is not in military might or financial security. We serve others and work for peace and reconciliation, desiring to live in the way of God’s reign, following Christ’s example.
As we challenge injustice and suffer loss, we can take heart remembering the current state of this world is not eternal. God’s reign will fully break in to this groaning, aching creation, and all will be made new.
Christmas morning comes this year to lighten our hearts and reinvigorate our will to do God’s work in the world. Christ is born to us again as a sign that God is always with us, however despairing we feel about the effects of our efforts to relieve suffering around us.
As we pray and act for peace on Earth, come, Lord Jesus.
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