Hope!

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5

It is hard to believe it, but the family and friends have gathered, the Thanksgiving turkey and fixings have been consumned, the pumpkins are history, and it’s time to turn our attention to Christmas and the hope of the Advent season. Advent is defined as the arrival of a notable thing, event, or person. For Christians, we celebrate all three. The thing is the joyous adventure of this season. The event is Christmas Day and the birthday of Jesus. The person we celebrate is Jesus Christ.

Hopefully in this season our hearts will be a little lighter, and we will be just more joyous, but we have to guard against the hustle and bustle of the world’s race to find the perfect gift. If we step back and remember the reason for the season our hearts will be happier, we will smile more, and hopefully, we will get a little bit closer to those we love.

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It is both an emotion and a way of thinking, and it is crucial for us to possess in times of uncertainty or adversity. The world in which we live today and the world as it was when Jesus was born can best described n the words of Charles Dickins. In A Tale of Two Cities, he wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the season of Light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” There are many situations that we face each day that can cause us to lose hope.

God sent Jesus to be our Christmas Hope, but He didn’t have the luxury of sending his only Son to be born in a hospital, a palace, or somewhere an author might have placed the birth. The Hope of Christmas was born in a smelly, dirty stable where animals were witnesses to His birth. This mere fact should remind us all that there is no place too common for Jesus, and there is no circumstance beneath Him.

Our goal during this Advent season should be to keep hope alive. In order to make it easier to start each day with hope, try using each letter of hope as an acroymn.

“H” is for humbling yourself. We often lose hope because we put faith in ourselves rather than the Christmas Hope. Hope in Jesus always results in renewed faith.

“O” is for opening our hearts to the hope Jesus’ birth can bring. Jesus says he stands at the door and knocks, and He is waiting for us to open it to him.

“P” is for the purpose that directs each of our lives. Our purpose is to spread the news of the birth of Jesus so that others will learn of Him.

“E” is for embracing the future God has for us. Jesus came to give us life and give it more abundantly.

God sent Jesus in human form with no guarantee that others would put their hope in Him. Yet, He came and lived among us, He laughed, He cried, He lived in towns, He listened to stories, He ate with others, He got to know the people, He discovered their fear of death, He cried with others as they buried their loved ones, He felt pain, and He experienced suffering. In the end, people did put their hope in Him.

The kind of Christmas we need this year is one filled with hope. Into this world full of hopelessness and despair, God sent a baby. When God really wants to get a message through, a message that will penetrate the hopelessness and gloom of humanity, He wraps it up in a person. That person is Jesus, and he is our Christmas Hope.