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November 25, 2007

Christmas Time Equals Hope.

Today at church our pastor had an incredible message that got me thinking about this time of the year. We spend so much energy getting ready for the Holidays and looking forward to Christmas and all that goes along with it, and yet somehow it can be the loneliest and saddest time of the year. Greg, my pastor, talked about how our brokenness gets heightened during the festivities: that close friend or relative has gone and you miss them more now than ever, the divorced family seems even more divorced, the single mother is even more desperate for help. We live in a messed up world where things are not as they should be. I ask myself, "Where would my hope come from if I didn't have Jesus?"
Disease infects our friends or their kids or their parents, Alzheimers sets in and our mom or dad doesn't even recognize us, a freak accident has killed a sixteen-year-old son who "had everything going for him," war zones killing 50 people at a time...this is the world we live in. What about it is hopeful? We have friends and good relationships and stuff like that. However, ultimately, it seems that our hope has to come from something greater. I believe that God has given us someone who redeems us, our situations, AND the world we live in. What does that mean? It means no more kidnapping, no more bone cancer, no more war, no more hate.
Today we read from a part of the Bible which was a letter written by a man named Peter. He was writing to a group of Christians who were being persecuted and were therefore, in danger of wavering away from what they believed to be true, that is, Jesus. He encouraged them to, "remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." It is crazy to watch the news and see shady business that ignores the well-being of people and believe in God, it is crazy to have a horrible day in which everything seems to go wrong, to the point that you wish you were dead, and believe in God. People see and experience bad things everyday and scoff at our belief in a God who would allow hard times to fall on people. They ask, "Where is the hope that you speak of?" Believers do have hope...in the form of Jesus Christ, who enters our lives, and gives hope to the hurting. Does it ease the pain? A little bit at times, and a lot at other times. However, what I think this hope gives me at the end of the day, is the ability to endure the bad news. Although I don't illustrate it so well, I have a fullness of hope that's real within me. I guess I'm saying that my hope in the face of tragedy or just the simple complications of life is not fake or dissallusioned, but centered...on Jesus' promise of better days that will last forever, which in turn gives me hope for today. Now that's something to celebrate at Christmas!!!
I want to be clear that I'm not dismissing the tremendous amount of pain that must be felt by people in difficult times. Let's be honest, a parent watching their sick infant enter back into the hospital for a fifth time from some Hellacious disease is sad, painful, and seemingly hopeless. However, it is when we go into the darkness of life holding the hand of Jesus that we will be able to survive. He is our hope in a fallen, lonely, wounded world.

| By Nathan Gemayel | 6:22 PM

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