I have some friends going through really hard times.
They are seeing relationships of all kinds falter, fade, and dissolve before their eyes. It hurts me to see them hurt so, and while I’m praying for them to see the light eventually, the only other thing to do is help bear their burdens. It’s a hard thing to do and sometimes, it’s hard to see the other side of the pain.
What of Advent?
As the Israelites waited for the Messiah, Romans ruled over them, the sick and lame lay in the street, and God still kept them in Exile. Their hope was only for the Messiah to come and bring them from the darkness of exile back to the light of God. There were many hopes for what this Messiah would do – militant action, religious purification – but what I love about the Messiah who came, was that he attended to the true needs of the people, bringing them from the exile of relationship with their God. In doing so, as he said, he bound up the broken hearted, preached freedom for the prisoners and set the captives free.
This is the hope I try to bring to my friends: that Jesus has come to bind up the broken-hearted people of the world. Hopefully, in this season of advent, we can look to the hope of healing that came with Jesus’ arrival in a little manger. In this week of reflection on hope, I think of the hope for now and the future time. I hope that my friends who are hurting can hope for healing in their lives by looking to the arrival of the binder of their hearts.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on December 3, 2009 at 5:26 am, filed under Christianity, Life and tagged Advent, hope, Relationships. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.