Advent Into Christmas Eve---Hopes and Fears

[HKHaugan]

 “Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see. That is what the people of long ago were praised for (Heb.11:1-2 NIRV).”

 At Christmas we have a lot of hopes that come to the surface, if not verbally then in the mind.  We hope for today that troubles cease, that war and conflict is no more, that peace comes to our hearts, relationships, families, friends and nation.  We hope that tomorrow finds the cure of diseases, that poverty is eliminated, that our children will find fulfillment, happiness and satisfaction in their jobs, homes and personal lives.  We are filled with hope because that is native to our nature as human beings.  Like faith hope is from God’s nature and we, being made in the image of God, live in hope everyday. 

 

However, also like faith, not everyone’s hope is in God.  Also like faith, if it is not centered in God then it is self-centered, concerned only with some kind of self-satisfaction and shallow in its goals.  Usually it is hope that life won’t be unpleasant for me, that I’ll have economic security and social acceptance wherever I go.

 

God centered hope is quite different.  It is based on the Resurrection of Jesus.  It is the Resurrection that defines how and what we hope for.  Hope becomes looking forward to my eternal life with Him.  It is hoping for His return and recognizing Him when He comes.  It is hoping to grow as He reshapes my heart and mind to think and move like Him.  It is hoping for growth through the Word as I read it.  I hope that where I have failed to be a spiritual father for my children, a caring husband for my wife and companion to others will be healed and my inadequacies shared in a way that will help others not to make the same mistakes.  It is hoping that what God wants for me will be fulfilled. 

 

Hope centered in God is to look for what I am able to do that would please Him.  I hope that I will be a productive person for Him.  I hope that I will realize the blessings He has given me like His gifts for helping others in the Body of Christ and those outside as well.  I hope that wherever I am I will be spiritually conscious of everyone as a spiritual image of God and lay aside and get rid of those biases and prejudices that keep me from seeing people as they really are.  I hope that the Cross of Christ will guide my daily vision and that I am filled with the courage to be His witness wherever I go.  I hope that where I need to repent and ask forgiveness will be clear to me and to others.  I hope to grow spiritually day-by-day in my awareness of the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit within my mind and heart.  I hope that others will not see me but Jesus in me and want Him to be their Lord and Savior.

 

The thing about hope is that through faith in Jesus I am certain that this Resurrection hope will be honored as I hope to honor Him.  From what I can tell from Scripture if our hope is a Resurrection hope, that we become more like Jesus everyday, then that hope will be realized when we meet Him face to face.  Hope is a spiritual generator that faith in Jesus jump-starts.

 

In the Old Testament there is a phrase that is translated as hope and that is ‘to wait upon.’  It is a promise summarizing this incredible quality from God when hope is centered in the Resurrection faith of Jesus.  It is what hope does for us when ‘we wait upon the Lord:’

 

“Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
   or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
   He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
   He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
   And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
   gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
   young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
   They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
   they walk and don't lag behind (Is.40:27-31 The Message).” 

 

Now when we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on Christmas Eve remember as we sing that “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.”

 

God bless you all this Christmas. ><>Whitey