Strong and Tough (Matthew 2:13-15)

For the past month we’ve been looking at the hope we have because of Christmas. Stronger than a wish. Deeper than good vibes. Tougher than “thoughts and prayers”. The hope we have as followers of Christ is like that, strong and tough. It’s strong because it’s anchored in the one whose life and death holds the weight of our salvation, the world’s restoration. Our hope is tough because of the way God entered the world. In poverty and humility, instead of wealth and power. Prioritizing the overlooked and the misunderstood. Knowing that God does the unexpected makes our hope flexible, adaptable, and resilient.  This kind of hope doesn’t hang on a presidential election or the stock market or the discovery of a cure for cancer. Our hope isn’t that a certain set of things will happen. Our hope is a character trait. A disposition. A way of moving in the world. We move through the world hopefully, because we are saved by Jesus and living in the light of his grace, hopeful that God is doing more than we know, redeeming and including people that we cannot imagine, just as his grace included and changed us.