Hope

Hope

Hope is the last stumbling block of those who don’t believe. They have none. Their hope is for this life only and for their own children to fare better than they did themselves. By refusing to even look at God and Jesus, they remove from themselves all hope for the future beyond the grave. But -  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith, to those who have none, is pointless and makes a mockery of real hope.

Yet, Christmas is a season of hope – “goodwill to all men”, and all that. Even atheists believe in goodwill to all men yet where did that expression of hope come from. It came from angels in the Biblical account of the birth of Christ. Funny, isn’t it, how Biblical quotations can be used to justify the celebration of an event that you deny ever happened?

This is the season of goodwill to all men and we must therefore be Christ’s eyes, ears, hands, and voice. There is a reason for the sequence of eyes, ears, hands, and voice – there are two of each except voice. Two eyes to see, two ears to listen, two hands to help and hold, but only one voice. 

We can see and understand, and show Gods love in us by our Christ-like response. We can listen with understanding, and we can pray with people, about situations, and for people based on what we hear. We can show love and give hope with our actions. By being the church rather than just talking about it, we can give help in so many ways. We can speak words of wisdom, advice, and love as Holy Spirit prompts us.

As Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times and where necessary use words.” It is such an enormous privilege to be Christ’s representative in life situations. We can bring such hope, as well as all the practical actions. The world has so little hope and we must share our hope with them in any way we can. The hope of Christ in us is such a beautiful gift that we really must share it.

What better gift this Christmas than to give even one person hope. Where there is loneliness, or emptiness, or nothingness, or even despair – let us sow the seeds of hope. The hope of Jesus Christ.