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In reflecting on the holiday season – running from place to place, commitment to commitment, event to event – I’m embarrassed to admit that, sometimes, I barely heard the Christmas carols promising the peace of the season.
There was one, however, that managed to cut through the Yuletide noise. It’s a favorite of many:
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices. Hope and its attendant thrill that we all long for is, in fact, a Person
Hope came to us in our weariness, enfleshed in the utter vulnerability of an infant born under dubious circumstances and crushing poverty.
Hope – even now – cuts against the demonic construct of assigned worth based on performance, social status, and wealth.
Instead, Hope comes near with a steely love, makes room for redemption in the Creation gifted to us (that we have horrifically scarred). Hope then beckons us come near and fully experience a thrilling redemption and transformation – and eventually take part in spreading it.
Australian musician and writer Nick Cave rightly observed, “Hope is optimism with a broken heart.”
The Thrill of Hope fuels an utterly counterintuitive act of rebellion against the powers of chaos, evil, and divisiveness. It smacks of utter foolishness to a world still caught up in “the good life.”
What does that silent “love rebellion” look like? What are ways we can practically take part?
“Enemy Love.”
You might not like this answer. I certainly didn’t.
I am winding up a yearlong personal study of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 5-7). It is perhaps Jesus’ most complete message of God’s original design for human relationships in the face of the world’s brokenness. There is a lot about good news for the poor, the disenfranchised and the lonely that we all need to be reminded of.
After several months of study, a new reality came into focus:
We spend a lot of time talking about loving our neighbor, but Jesus calls us to far, far more.
Very early on in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts to make a case for “Enemy Love” with ever-growing challenges in quick succession
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Note: another translation changes “righteousness” to “right relationships,” and what follows bears it out:
… blessed are the merciful …
… blessed are the peacemakers …
… blessed are you when people insult you …
Mercy and peacemaking are hard, consequential work.
It gets even more specific and uncomfortable from there:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven.” -Matthew 5:43- 45, (emphasis mine).
Time and time again, God who became enfleshed taught Enemy Love – his teachings are heavy with that countercultural challenge. I simply cannot un-see that – despite the inconvenient and perplexing questions that arise:
Love those for whom your relational expectations are met? Easy Peasy.
Love those you disagree with – where the relational divide is seemingly uncrossable? THAT is where He is ultimately calling us.
A couple of important caveats on this side of heaven:
- This is not giving a pass to perpetrators of genuine trauma in your life. That requires a caring community with real expertise and practical experience to effectively navigate.
- It doesn’t happen overnight. It begins by yielding to the Thrill of Hope and very slowly allowing ourselves to be transformed by it.
How far do we go to pursue right relationships? I don’t know. And I don’t believe many – certainly not I – have overcome hardness of heart and touched the outer limits of our ability to experience it.
Simply put, always go a little further than you’re comfortable. And remember – God says you are mysteriously blessed when people insult you for making the effort.
I am convinced that our individual, relational, and societal wounds can begin to heal when we slow our rhythms and make room for God. As we do that, we come to understand and trust the great Hope that has come to heal and redeem us.
As we are doing that hard and necessary work, Hope invites us to join in a thrilling adventure. We can be a part of the mission to take love, forgiveness and reconciliation to a world that, at first, might fight back instead of change.
So take time in these first weeks of 2025. Recharge. Rest. In tiny ways, let yourself be ever-transformed by Hope; and then give it away in thrilling ways to the undeserving people in your life that Hope wants you to reach.
This is an abridged version of the blog post entitled “Christmas Greetings” which Kensington staff member, Chris Cook, shared on his personal website:
jchriscook.com/blog