The church has long stubbornly insisted that these weeks before Christmas are not the Christmas season. Those are the twelve days that start with Christmas and end with the Epiphany of our Lord. That cause is probably long lost, but the sacred and secular seasons share quite a bit in common, perhaps most notably: hope. Longing. Looking forward. Anticipation.
But what is the source of our hope? It’s easy to get mixed up about that whenever we do church together, and it’s far too easy to think that the source of our hope is in our numbers. Or the attractiveness of our ministry. Or the beauty of our worship space.
Or less tangibly, we might think it is our collective generosity — which is evidently abundant! Or our capacity for joy — of which we are so confident, we put it right in our name! Or perhaps our capacity for loving God and caring for one another?
These are all good things, but they are not the source and ground of our hope. As one classic hymn of the church puts it, our “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
That’s perhaps he a bit gory for this time of year, but of course, it’s not Jesus’ blood in itself, but his willingness to take our place — to supply his own righteousness, wherever and whenever ours falls short.
That’s why we pray, come, Lord Jesus. Be born again a babe in a manger, come again into our broken world & broken lives, enter into our hearts this season and always. A blessed Advent and merry Christmas to you and yours this holiday season.
Pastor Jon
