The story of Christmas never fails to leave me with a sense of hope. As I sit here in the comforts of my hometown of Penang, where I am spending the christmas weekend with my family, I can’t help but feel a sense of hope for the things that are to come.
Not that I am hoping for anything. No, in fact more than anything I do feel thankful, but that’s a topic for another day. Today’s topic is on hope, is on hoping on a God, who despite the obvious circumstances seem to point that things are not going to work out, can somehow make things work.
I am talking about the story of the birth of His son. As I heard the pastor in my parish reading the gospel over the midnight christmas vigil mass, my mind wandered to a different scenario. I know the story of the birth of our Lord quite well. I’ve heard it countless times and even studied the texts narrating the birth of our Lord.
But my mind kept going to one thought : Wouldn’t things have been easier if Christ had been born into royalty? Oh yes Christ was royalty alright, but you know what I am talking about…. the kind of royalty where you get those special favours and privileges of being royalty. I was reading recently on the glory of the Roman empire, and I couldn’t help wondering what would have happened if Christ was born into Roman royalty. That would have made things easier no?
But the point is not about convenience. Sure God could have done it, but I believe there is a greater message here. From the onset of when Mary said yes to do God’s bidding (be in done to me according to thy word), problems after problems arose, and this could have been quite discouraging to Mary as it is to us today whenever we face our own tribulations. Consider the fact that she was still a virgin, and was already expecting with Child. Or the fact that when it came time to delivery the Messiah, there was no place in the inn?
I wonder if Mary ever doubted God. I wonder if she ever did ask the questions that we so frequently ask today whenever we are faced with our sets of challenges. But I believed, that despite everything, when the odds were stacked up against her and Joseph, they both believed in God. They had something we lack today….hope
And I think this is precisely what God had in mind when He planned to have his only Son to redeem us. The readings in Isaiah that is always said in the christmass midnight mass is beautiful and hopeful. For unto us today a saviour has been called….he will be called Immanuel…God is with us.
And I believe that calls for hope. That God is with us, we can be assured of and that we can depend on Him. The story of the first Christmas points us to that truth.
