Prisoners of Hope

Our lesson for the third Sunday in Advent focused on John the Baptist and his situation in prison. The sermon can be found here.

The majority of us have those times in our lives when we seriously question the validity of our faith. If Christianity is such good news, how come our world is still so full of bad news? If Jesus came to be the savior, how come so many seem to be on a path to nowhere? When we are going through a dark patch in our personal lives such questions can be particularly imprisoning.

In the darkness of his prison cell John found encouragement through Jesus quoting to him Isaiah’s words about the ‘blind receiving sight, lame walking and good news being proclaimed to the poor.’ Those words bid John look beyond the confines of his immediate circumstances and see a bigger picture. Not easy to do, for sure!

But whoever said the journey of faith was meant to be easy? Whoever said there wouldn’t be days of darkness and doubt and struggle? Such were certainly a feature of Jesus own spiritual journey. At various times we see Him weeping, angry, and sweating blood as He struggled with God’s will. On the cross He declares He feels forsaken by God.

Despite the struggle, to paraphrase John’s gospel, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it”. It’s O.K. when we have doubts and our faith is more struggle than it is victory. It seems to be all part and parcel of what makes faith a reality rather than a fairy tale.

It’s partly what can make Christmas such a meaningful celebration. There is nothing particularly attractive about taxes, census taking and fleeing persecution. Having nowhere to stay and being forced to give birth in a stable is a desperate situation to be in. None of us would describe a life driven by visions of angels and vivid dreams ‘normal’.

Yet the eye of faith sees in these events the hope of redemption and dares to proclaim that through Jesus Christ we can all be prisoners of hope!

Prayer: “Lord in this Christmas season, guide us through our struggles to places where the light breaks through. Through Your Holy Spirit, be born in our hearts afresh and imprison us with Advent hope. Amen.”