HOPE IS REAL
Children are hopeful humans. Their hopes are wrapped up in the belief that just because they want a certain Christmas present, their desire will definitely be under the tree Christmas morning. After all, didn’t Santa promise? Whether allowing a child to believe in the guy with the red suit is right, wrong, wise, or foolish, children around the world put their hopes and dreams on Santa Claus every year. In turn, parents will do what they can to turn the hopes of their child into a reality. Parents will sacrifice a lot to make their children happy. I recall a few such Christmases in my own childhood. Our family economic situation meant my parents would need to relinquish their own needs to give us our heart’s desire. One such year I wanted a bicycle. Daddy sold a cow to buy my big blue bike—which I had no earthly idea how to ride. Another year, during the tight years of World War II, I wanted a sled of my own. I had been sledding on my brother’s little sled, and I thought I was important enough to have my very own. After all, Daddy had given him his very own big sled, and Mother had given hers to my sister. Why couldn’t I have one of my own, instead of some reject that, seemingly, skidded on its last runners, including a messed-up steering bar and a bad nick on one of those runners. On a visit to a department store in the city, I saw a lovely red sled just my size. I asked the department store Santa Claus to bring me the same kind of sled. When Christmas morning arrived, sure enough a bright red sled appeared with my name on the tag. Something seemed odd, however, about my pretty new sled. My discovery of the old chip on one of the runners did not take long. Despite my father’s good sharpening skills, utilized to take off the old rust and smooth out the nick, the flaw remained. My disappointment showed on my pouty face. After a lecture from my mother, I realized the sled had come at the only cost they could afford, my father’s love for me and his handyman skills. I used the little red sled well for our remaining years on the farm.
The nick on the runner might be a metaphor for how we attempt to patch up our flaws, but no amount of reforming, restructuring, or restoration will remove the character flaws and sinfulness inherent in our souls. We can’t fix our moral defects. They will remain.
Christmas is about hope. Christmas is really about our eternal Hope. Eternal Hope is real and based on the first real Christmas in Bethlehem. Our Lord Jesus Christ arrived on the scene to bring us a real Hope. Ah yes, God’s chosen people had long awaited the Hope of Israel—a Messiah who would be their King. By then, however, God’s people were looking more for a political savior than one who would be their complete sacrifice for sins. They were content with the annual Passover Lamb. The annual sacrifice for the sins of the people might compare to Daddy’s work on smoothing the runner on the old sled. The Passover lamb seemed enough for the duration of the year, but only …
“The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1: 29
…will last throughout eternity.
Do we rest our outward hopes on a political leader? Do we look for satisfaction of our passions, possessions, and pursuit of personal achievement and base our hopes there?
The true, real Hope of the world is an unshakable Hope of eternal life in the presence of the Triune God.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1: 3-5
Challenge: Make certain of your own Hope in eternal life and then reach out to others whose hopes are slim for giving their children a Christmas lasting longer than a few moments of opening packages. Donate to your local homeless shelter (yes, there are families with children being served in homeless shelters); Adopt a needy family; Invite a neighbor who lives alone in for a cup of tea or coffee and conversation. In sharing yourself, you share the Hope of the Manger … and the Cross.
Prayer: Father in heaven, in all the busy-ness of holiday spirit, help us to keep the Hope of eternal life always in our sites. Because of Jesus, Amen.
