A dvent is upon us. It is the time of longing, a time of waiting. Traditionally this season is one of waiting. In the early church, it was a time for preparation for those who wished to be baptized into the church on Christmas Day. Centuries later, the focus of Advent shifted from preparation for baptism to the hope for Jesus to return quickly and bring peace, justice, and righteousness to earth. Now, 2,000 years later, we continue to wait for Jesus’s return. We continue to hope for peace. We continue to hope for justice and righteousness to finally come.
As I mark the seasons of Advent and Christmas this year, I am feeling a bit sad. I am looking for hope. The Middle East has violence that continues to escalate. We worry about the war that drags on in Ukraine. Sudan has an ongoing civil war that has killed countless of innocent civilians. Where is the hope that the world will finally be at peace? I rely on the stories of faith that I read in the Scriptures for my hope.
Hope from Bethlehem’s biblical history
Two years ago, I stood in Bethlehem, the town of Jesus’s birth, as part of a trip sponsored by the Reformed Church in America. It was led by Joshua Vis and Sally Vis in partnership with women’s transformation and leadership and RCA Global Mission. Our group stood next to the place where it was said that Jesus was born. Not far from his birthplace was a large field. The local legends claim that this field was the place where the shepherds received the announcement of Jesus’s birth. It is also said that it was this same pasture that Ruth and Naomi crossed as Ruth escorted Naomi back home. Also, there is a story that King David, while he was still a little boy, tended his family’s sheep in the very same pasture.
When Ruth brought Naomi across that land, she did so with love and loyalty, but little hope. She could never envision that she would find a husband and see the reclamation of Naomi’s family land. She could never dream that she would become the great-grandmother of King David.
King David stood on this same land as he tended sheep. I bet he never dreamed that someday he would be the second king of Israel. After he was anointed to be king after Saul, he spent years fleeing from the wrath of Saul. He, like Ruth and Naomi, faced deadly challenges, yet God got the last word. Redemption arrived in God’s time.
The day that Jesus was born, the land of Israel was in extremely violent circumstances. Rome ruled that nation and oppressed the citizens horribly. The Israelites longed for freedom of violence, freedom of want, freedom of self-determination. The birth of Jesus did not fix all the problems of that land, but it gave hope to those who were feeling hopeless.
Related: When Christmas feels more melancholy than merry, these carols comfort me
Hope for Bethlehem and beyond today
This Advent and Christmas, we have plenty of things to worry about, but if we know the history of God and his people, we also have hope. The same God who brought the hopeless Israelites out of Egypt, the same God who gave Ruth and Naomi a home, the same God who brought David from a marked man to the throne in Jerusalem, the same God who incarnated into our world, is still active. We, who believe in Christ, see the troubles of the earth, but see the difficulties through the lens of hope. That is one way that we are different from the people of the world.
Two years ago, at the end of our time in Bethlehem, members of our group gathered to sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” They sang this carol near the fields where the shepherds heard the good news and in sight of the place where Jesus was born. Perhaps in this time of advent we need to remember the words of hope in this carol:
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
If you are feeling hopeless, remember our faith history and the love of God in Christ; perhaps your hope will be restored. May God bless you with hope this Advent.
Photo of Shepherds’ Field in Bethlehem courtesy Rev. Liz Testa. Used with permission.
Rev. Mark Ennis
Rev. Mark William Ennis has been an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America for 40 years. Most recently, he has begun doing work as an interim minister and a hospice chaplain. He is a pastor, author, occasionally a background actor, and a grandfather to four grandsons. Read more from Mark at www.pastormarkauthor.com and www.revmarkwilliamennis.com.
