Russ and I have done a lot of dreaming in our years
together; mostly wishful thinking with a dash of hope. We realize that God is in lead of our life
and in God lives our hope. Children
during this time of year write a letter to Santa asking for their hearts’
desire. They are hopeful that on
Christmas morning they will get some – if not all – the items of their wish
list. This hope is set in the guarantee
that is the Santa story. Santa brings
you what you ask for. Hope can be short
lived if as a child Santa forgets your house several years.
However, Christmas for us as Christians isn’t about asking
Santa for what you want and receiving it. Instead it is about the birth of a
baby who brought to us something we never knew we needed. You see the hope that lies in the manger is
not the same as the hope children but in Santa.
For this hope comes the knowledge that although we might not get what we
ask for, we get what we need.
NO one in Jesus’ day expected that the Messiah was to be
anything like what Jesus was – they expected someone who would retake the
earthly thrown of David. They expected
someone who was more military and more of a religious leader like they already
knew. Many couldn’t accept Jesus because
he wasn’t what they expected. BUT he was
what the world needed. The changes he
made in the relationship between God and humans was so important – brining
divinity and humanity together.
Hope as a Christian is realizing that in God lives our
hope. Not that we hope in God – we hope
in Santa – but that is not how we are to hope in God. For God is bigger than a Santa story. God is bigger then giving us all our hearts’
desires…for God is our hope and knows what we really need. This holiday season as we strive to bring
hope to others in new and exciting ways let us remember this.
I asked you this Sunday to think about how you can make hope
this holiday for someone – allowing for a this hope to be long lasting and felt
in throughout the year. Perhaps it is in
reminding people that God is not Santa but instead in God lives our hope and
should we place it there we might not get everything we want but we get
everything we need!
