CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – The central theme of the Jewish faith is waiting. Jews believe that God will send a Messiah to redeem his creation. They have waited in hope for that day to come.
Christians believe that God sent us Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.
And this Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, as we prepare ourselves for the Christ child’s arrival on Christmas Day.
Living in hopeful waiting isn’t necessarily easy. I imagine the shepherds on the night of the first Christmas. As observant Jews, they too would have been living in hope for God’s greatest gift. And, by all accounts, they were convinced that their hope was fulfilled. They were greeted by a choir of angels announcing the blessed child’s birth. They went to Bethlehem and saw the babe in the manger, as they had been told. Their hope had been answered.
But here’s the tricky part. The answer to what they were hoping for was certainly different than what they expected. Why this night instead of some other? Born in a stable? They’d probably thought that he’d be born into a prominent household. A teenage mother is entrusted to raise the Savior of the world? And surely it wasn’t lost on them that the child’s announcement came to them – low people working in the fields. How would it be possible that news of the Messiah’s arrival would reach everyone?
Hope is tricky that way. When we are hopeful, we want something to happen. How will we respond when our hopes are answered, but not quite the way we expected?
We are often told that God answers our prayers in his own time. As we light the hope candle, I’m reminded that our prayers are answered in God’s way too.
Chris Conley
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