Messianic Hope

Thanksgiving is swiftly coming and so it will pass and Christmas season begins. I am certainly thankful for many things, family, health, food on the table, shared love, good friends, and so much more. It is the "good" things in life that help us carry on. We spring board from our time of Thanksgiving directly into Christmas celebrations; lights go up, Christmas trees are trimmed, Christmas music is everywhere, and sales are announced with great joy. For those with whole families, good friends and steady jobs this is a time easily given over to, but for those with broken homes, lack of jobs with increased financial difficulty, and few friends it can be a most depressing time. It is a perfect time to reach out and touch others with love, compassion and "Messianic hope," for we all need a savior.

Messianic hope is the term used to describe the condition of Israel just prior to Jesus' coming. They were a conquered nation and felt "oppressed" by Roman rule. They were in religiously divisive times with religious factions which were from violently radical, to stuck in the mud traditional, to Hellenizers (similar to our Postmodern pop culture religion of today). The religious interpretations of scripture where vastly different--some Jews didn't even believe in an afterlife, others fought for a new political kingdom of God, while others hid away thinking the end of the world was near. Troubled times indeed. They needed a Messiah, a savior--and those who could believe for a better day had a messianic hope.

Today we have as many religious interpretations of the Bible, we have as many diverse and radical groups claiming "they have the truth." Today we has social unrest, economic uncertainty, joblessness and broken homes. Today we need a messianic hope, we need a savior to heal our lives, we need God's clarity, we need God's kingdom to come in our situations. So as we unpack the lights, put up our tress, buy our presents and prepare our meals... let us also prepare our hearts to hear from God, to receive the Christ Child into our lives, and learn how to live in God's Kingdom of Love and Grace. This all raises a question for me, "will we be able to recognize and receive the Christ Child in our lives?"

Many people of Christ's day never recognized the "Messiah" (Christ/Savior) amongst them, though they cried out for a savior they were blind and deaf to his arrival. They were too lost in the details of their own crusades and struggles. His life passed them by, they never found their hope, they were never touched by his miracles, and never heard their answers. In this season Christ comes to us again, speaks to us, ministers to our needs--will we hear? Will we recognize Messiah's work in our life and partake in sharing it with others? Or will we just have another busy holiday? How will we realize our Messianic Hope?