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A Christmas Eve Reflection
Prophets of Hope: Jesus
By The Rev. Douglas M. Donley
Luke 2:1-20
Luke 4:16-21
Those are the words Jesus was first to speak, about 30 years after that miraculous first Christmas. It was the culmination of the training he received from his family, his study of those other prophets of hope from his upbringing, that he could make that audacious claim to fulfilling the prophecy of third Isaiah that good news comes to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, release to the captives, and a year of jubilee. That is what Jesus would grow up to say. But for tonight, for now, we need not look to that ministry. What we need to look at is the wonder, the innocence, the birth of hope here in the magic of this night.
For unto us
is born this night in the city of
It is no accident that God came into the world in this way. It is to show us the priorities we are to have live and the perspective we need to understand the world.
We’re not privy to how Jesus grew up. In fact we know very little about Jesus until he is about 30 years old, which either means nothing very significant happened, or more likely that what did happen was not appropriate for scripture, which is the case of many of our lives until age 30 and even beyond.
What we can assume, given the way he turned out, is that Jesus had good people teaching and nurturing him. We can imagine that he learned the words of the prophets. We can imagine that Mary taught him about Hannah of all three Isaiahs, Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah and so forth. We can imagine him being rowdy with his cousin John. We can imagine them at family sleepovers spending sleepless nights with ancient equivalents of flashlights under blankets letting their imaginations run wild.
I bet they spent their time scheming and dreaming about how they might set the world on its right path. Their mommas Elizabeth and Mary would have to remind them that this is what they were put on this earth for. Now read your prophets and go to bed. I bet they had some disagreements, too. One of them did grow up to be a Baptist after all. Hear this: Jesus became a prophet of hope because of the relationship he had with God, of course, but also because of the relationships he had with his family, with his friends, with his community.
On Christmas, we remember that new child. We remember all of the opportunities and possibilities placed before a newborn. We remember the influence we can each place upon that child. Think about what a newborn child sees this day and age. Think about the clear and subtle messages we give to all of the children. Think about how we are so prone to use violence as a quick fix to so many of our problems. Think, if you will about how you might modify your words and actions to show a child how to live in this world. That action you take, might help the next prophet of hope to grow up healthy.
I want to tell you about my friends Tom and Patti Burkett. About 17 years ago, they had their first of three daughters, Sarah. Those of you who know Sarah from the Baptist Peace Fellowship conferences know her as a loving, optimistic young woman.
Her loving biological family and her church family at the
First Baptist Church of Granville, Ohio have blessed her with acceptance, love
support and courage. Sarah is almost set
to graduate from high school where she plays string bass in the orchestra, both
of which are tall orders for a child with
In the garden, Eden God spoke to the man
and the woman back before the world began.
Pain will come with girl or boy,
but every life will bring you joy
in living and in all the things you’ve planned.
Many years ago a little boy was born.
Strangers looked up at the sky upon that morn.
When the boy became a man
a different kind of life began
for us and we’re still living it today.
These two little arms may lift a falling heart.
These two bright eyes may see the answers clear.
This tiny voice may someday speak the words that make the storm clouds part
and through your life the Lord will love you and we will hold you in our hearts.
So we watch in wonder as the seasons spin.
Mother feels the quickening of life within.
Then just as the Lord hath spoke,
the promise of our joy and hope
is right here in our arms to love and share.
Will you stand with us to bless a child today?
Help her answer questions guide her on her way?
Will you give her love and care
just when you think there’s none to share
and will you laugh to see her run and play?
It’s Christmas Eve. In the morning, our children will tear through their presents and indulge in too many candy canes and Christmas cookies. But when I get home tonight, I’m going to go into their rooms and look at them once again in the dim peace of the first hours of Christmas day. As they sleep, with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, I’m going to thank God for the opportunity that I have, fumbling and bumbling as I can be, to help them to grow into the children that might lift falling hearts, the young women who might see answers clearer than this old guy can, I’ll give thanks for the opportunity to be a part of the beginning of these new lives.
We can all do that, regardless of our family situation. For everything that we do is watched by our children. They learn the good and the bad from us.
And so on this Christmas Eve, in the silence of the night, reflect on the lives that you touch and the lives of those who have touched you. Remember the gift we have received in our family and friends and give thanks that we have been moved and changed by prophets of hope and peace in our lives.
“O holy child of