BRANDYWINE GRACE CHURCH • DECEMBER 2024

Hope For Everyone

by Amy Lynch

Until this year, Gorilla Glue has been the only bond between my nativity set and me. I have used it dozens of times to re-attach the hands, feet, crook, halo, and (I’m sorry to admit) heads belonging to our figurines. My children used to kneel by the hour and make-believe with the ceramic set, especially the angel. However, I only paid attention to the figures for the five seconds required to reaffix an appendage between boiling the pasta and supervising the math homework.

This year is different. I began working remotely recently, so now I often sit and work in the gold armchair beside the fireplace. The coffee table beside my chair is the "same region" where our nativity rests.

I'm a freelance writer; this means I score high on imagination and extra high on daydreaming power. While sitting close to the manger scene, such aptitudes get me wondering, especially about the angel. I'm puzzled over, "Why is the angel the biggest?" and "Why are angels so scary?" and "Why does the angel get to be the hero herald?" and "What did that angel actually say to those poor, petrified people?” Following this trail of curiosity has deeply impacted me this Christmas in a way that I hope will last all year long.

I’ve learned again that Jesus himself is the ultimate answer to all the questions that matter, and his message satisfies all longings. This Christmas and every Christmas, his answer and his message are hope. Hope for everyone. There is hope for everyone, and we should spread that good news with all our might.

It’s Rough

Pretty much every person I know and love is facing difficulties in their lives. One person I love is intensely lonely. While one is losing his business, another is unable to conceive. I have friends who struggle with alcohol and others with sexual confusion. Painful memories trouble many, and some say they’ve been the source of pain for their loved ones. Howling over politics, world events, and secular ideology can overwhelm us as well by day while financial worries, health concerns, lousy choices, and scary stuff echo through our heads at night. Sometimes, troubling and divisive messages creep inside our church; watching people we love walk out our doors in disagreement over secondary and tertiary issues has been disheartening. Many people feel weary, maybe even hopeless.

It’s Always Been Rough

I'm pretty sure the live versions of the tiny figures in my nativity felt some of these emotions. They were having a rough go, too. Expand that to every account I've ever read about people in history, then include all the stories I currently read in the daily newspaper. Life on Earth has been tragic. People have been baffled, discouraged, and depressed for all time. So, when I searched for the angel's actual message in his exact words, I was blown away by the simplicity and the hope.

There’s Really Good News

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10) Good news. Great joy. God sent us a message when the entire creation was poised at the apex of our existence. It was the one message that He wanted to send to all people. It was good news, literally exploding with joy, so the skies broke open. It was a message of hope. There is hope for everyone because of Jesus.

The advent of Jesus Christ came with a message from God the Father, not from the church or any person. It’s God’s good news, and he sent his angel to deliver it; that is what angels do. A few months earlier, when he appeared to Zechariah, the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” (Luke 1:19) So, we know that this is coming straight from the heart and mouth of God to us—good news of great joy for all the people.

Hope For Everyone

There is hope for us all in our confused state. We get muddled here in the shadowlands, but God sends us a straightforward message. It’s a simple message: good news, great joy, all people.

The good news is that Jesus died for our sins and rose again in eternal triumph over death and evil, so those who believe are never condemned and will only know everlasting joy. It is the power of God that offers

salvation to everyone who believes. So momentous and life-changing! The good news is that you and I can experience Jesus as Savior and the Guide of our lives. Absolutely nothing about politics or problems. Only real hope.

What Should We Do With Such Good News?

We should proclaim the good news to ourselves every day, and then we should share it.

Don’t miss a chance to remind yourself that there is wonderful news of eternal joy for you—life-sustaining joy. Joy so packed with the power of God that it changes lives forever. Joy so supercolossal that it can literally envelop everyone on the planet. Tell it to yourself, sing it, recite it, read it, shout it, pray it. Then, let it overflow to others.

Care about others, and spread the good news about Jesus because this joy is for everyone. Listen to your friends and pray for them. Ask them if they’d like to hear some good news. Give them a gift that shares it. Invite them to eat with you or come along to the Christmas Eve Service. Offer to read a gospel primer together. Ask the Holy Spirit for opportunities to share.

There is hope for me. There is hope for you. There is hope for them.

There is hope for everyone.