in Hope

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” Isa 9:2

Have they seen it? Have they really?

“The ox knows his master, the donkey, his owner’s manager, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”  Isa 1:3

Oh how empty, how sorrowful, how lost. How, hopeless.

The people of Israel had been walking in darkness for 400 years. 400 years not a word was spoken to them by God, no prophet, no Moses, no Elijah, not even a Joseph to save them form famine or a Noah to mock. Silence. Quiet. Darkness. The priests must have been beside themselves. For generations upon generations upon generations the Lord was silent. 

When you walk in the dark for so long you get used to it. You rely on other senses, you make your way, you manage in your life. You get proud. 

Darkness - the carrier of both evil and ignorance.

“Seek not in courts, nor palaces,

Nor royal curtains draw;

But search the stable, see your God,

Extended on the straw”

In the dark of a stable, the babe of light is born. And we are to hope!

We are to Hope? In a baby? A feeble human? 

But God…

Who wouldn’t let Moses see his face

Who came in fire - and smoke

And was silent.

How do we hope in a baby?

We have been getting along just fine without Hope.

“When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn” Isa 8:19-20

Or..

Our celebrities take all our attention, our “teachers” have better words for us than the Lord’s. We will let our knowledge from them. They tickle our ears. Our Hope is in them. They require nothing of us.

Of course we see no Hope in a baby. We are Lord of our lives. We seek no King to reign over our hearts. Over every part of our hearts. We are our own Herod.

“Oh yes, let me see this baby. Let me add my congratulations and watch as I do with everything else, until I get bored. Then I will destroy you with my pride.”

Yes, yes.. there is our Hope.

Yet,

“FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN!”

How have we forgotten?!

Where is our minds’ heart?

“TO US A SON IS GIVEN”

Yes of course. A Son. The Son.

The Hope that brought Moses to the promised land, the Light that he was not permitted to bear witness to has been born into a child.

This is no fairy tale,

No “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..”. No, “Once upon a time..” 

This is the Light of the world, come to our lives. He is our Hope. 

“THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ON HIS SHOULDERS”

Yes! Please God, take over the government!

“AND HE WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR MIGHTY GOD EVERLASTING FATHER!”

Do you want to know why?

Because HE was there in the beginning. 

HE IS THE WORD MADE INTO FLESH

 and he came to live with us

IMMANUEL

IMMANUEL

IMMANUEL!!

HE is with us. 

Resides IN us,

Walks WITH us,

Suffered FOR us,

Intercedes on OUR behalf.

Because we can’t do it on our own. Nobody can truly see in the dark. The darkness deceives, the darkness leads us to doubt, to abandon all Hope.

Do you see it? Do you see the light? Does it make tears come out of your eyes? It will wipe those away. Does it cause you to fall to your knees? It will cup your face so you can look into it. The Light is no longer denied us. We can bear witness to it. Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice all you people. Our Hope is restored! The LIGHT has come! 

REJOICE!