One of the encouraging things about God’s preparation is that we can trace it back hundreds of years before Jesus was actually born! At Christmas time, we often read the prophecies in the Old Testament which speak about Jesus, long before He actually arrived. In Isaiah 9, a chapter which looks ahead to the birth of Jesus, we read, ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.’ (Is 9:2)

One of the difficult things in our country about this time of year (November through to March) is the darkness. We have relatively few hours of daylight in the daytime compared to June; sunrise is often not until about 8 a.m. and sunset can be about 4 p.m. The weather often adds to the sense of gloom, with clouds, fog, rain and snow adding to darkness. All these factors add to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. It can be difficult to want to go outdoors or do things; it can be easy to let despair and lethargy wash over you. But the arrival of Jesus brings light into darkness and hope into hopeless situations. Isaiah goes on to say,

‘For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.’ (Isaiah 9:6-7)

These names and promises associated with Jesus shine light into the darkness of despair and remind us that God is still at work, whether we see this yet or not.

The reason we need this period of Advent is so that we understand the enormity of Christmas and can reflect on why God had to send His Son, Jesus, to be the Saviour of the world. Hope can only fully be understood in the context of what it means to have no hope.

Right now, many people are facing uncertain times. There is economic instability in the world; there are fears about many topics, including how to pay our bills and what we will do to survive winter. There are fears about wars, about the climate, about political issues. We have spent the past two years being bombarded with bad news, and for many people, this has led to a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, anxiety and worry. Hope, the fuel that keeps us going through difficult times, is in short supply, it seems.

Paul tells us that all of us at one point were ‘without hope and without God in the world.’ (Eph 2:12) The first step in finding hope is to realise that the world is a dark place, and that we need God if we are to find our way through to light and day. John says, ‘God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.’ (1 John 1:5) The God who separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:3-4) is the reason we have any hope at all. If you’re in a dark place right now, know that Jesus is described as the light of the world (John 8:12) and that His light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome the light. (John 1:5)

Garry continued his series on Joseph this morning, speaking from Genesis 44:25-45:7 when Joseph’s identity is finally revealed to his family. What his brothers had done to him many years previously had haunted them and they were terrified when they found silver and the cup in their sacks, fearing retribution would fall on them. When Joseph spoke to them in their native language (no longer using an interpreter) and revealed his identity, they must have been struck dumb with shock; the Hebrew word says they trembled inwardly. Surely Joseph would now take revenge on them in the most fearful way?

Joseph has had chance to see the changes in them; Judah offers to take Benjamin’s place and Reuben speaks for them all asking for mercy. Joseph is not bent on revenge, however. He understands the purpose of God and can forgive freely. Jesus taught us to pray ‘forgive us our sins, for we also fortive everyone who sins against us.’ (Luke 11:4) Matthew reminds us that our forgiveness of others is linked to God’s forgiveness of us (Matt 6:14-15) and Paul reminds us that we are to bless those who persecute us (Rom 12:14).

If we don’t forgive others, we are like a tethered dog, chained to the past. Forgiveness is essential, for our own benefit as well as for the sake of others.Even if the person who has wronged us does not repent, we are still called to forgive (see Luke 23:33-34, Acts 7:59-60) It is not necessarily easy to forgive (as Corrie Ten Boom discovered when meeting one of her Nazi guards after the war), but forgiveness is needed if we are to move forward in God. We know that He has forgiven and accepted us (see Ps 130:3-4, 1 John 1:9) and therefore we can have the courage to forgive others when they wrong us. Like Joseph, forgiveness can be difficult, but when we forgive, we can be sure we have God’s blessing and that He will help us, even though there is no guarantee of reciprocity.

Today is the first day of Advent, the period of 4 weeks when we prepare our hearts for Christ’s arrival at Christmas. The difference between Advent and Christmas can be confusing to people who seem to be putting up Christmas decorations earlier and earlier in our country; it’s also confusing as the Christian calendar always has the Advent period starting 4 Sundays before Christmas Day, yet Advent calendars only start on 1^st December!

Traditionally, the church links four main themes with the four weeks of Advent: hope, peace, love and joy, and in these daily thoughts throughout Advent, we will be looking at those four themes as we reflect on the many Biblical passages associated with Christmas. I’m always mindful that even today, not everyone knows the Christmas story. Some have heard only snippets and have, perhaps, a distorted view of Christmas because of the many different influences absorbed from different traditions and cultures. The best way to prepare for Christmas is to read (again or for the first time) what the Bible actually has to say about this and to look again at what it means to welcome Jesus into our world and into our own families and into our own hearts.

A new arrival in any family will bring upheaval and there must be preparation. Perhaps this is one reason pregnancy lasts nine months: to give us time to adjust to the tumultuous changes any baby brings to a family and to prepare as best we can for this miraculous addition! As we prepare our hearts for Christ’s arrival, we reflect on the role of preparation in life. Even God spent time preparing for Christmas; we will read about the arrival of John the Baptist before Jesus, whose role it was to ‘prepare the way for the Lord.’ (Matthew 3:3) Before hope can arrive, we must prepare our hearts.