“ADVENT MEDITATION – HOPE”

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go forth leaping like calves fro the stall”.  (Mat 4:2)

They needed this word from the prophet.

Oh they got a lot of other words too.  He was a tough prophet and he really challenged the children of Israel

·     Animal Sacrifice (Ch 2)

·     The mediocrity of their giving to the temple (3:6-12)

·     Divorce (Ch2)

·     Social sins – poor wages, widows and children, their treatment of strangers outside their tribe

·     Clean things up

In fact the Lord was going to purify them –

Like the purification of gold and silver.

And the children of Israel were already depressed.

       (elaborate on all that had happened)

So when the prophet gave them this word of hope, it could not have come at a better time.

       In essence he said-

              The dawn is coming

              The time of healing is near

              Don’t lose hope

This was played out again 450 years later.  The children of Israel were again in depression and despair.  The Roman legions occupied their land.  They had lost their freedom and owned nothing.

But the word came to Zechariah from an angel and the angel said: “Do not be afraid Zechariah for your prayer is heard….(Luke 1:13)

Wasn’t the angel saying the same thing which the prophet had said so many years before?

And then an angel spoke to Mary and said:   “Do not be afraid for you have found favor with God – and you will conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Jesus.”

In the angel’s words, wasn’t the message the same again?

              The dawn is coming

              The time of healing is near

              Don’t lose hope

Is this a word which many of us need to hear today?

Probably so.

Doesn’t life have a way of driving the most valuable things right out of us – including the treasures of Faith, Love, Joy and Hope?

I think that many of us are honest – we have to admit that the message of Malachi and the messages of the angels is exactly what we need today.

Nelson Mandella Experience-

“Hold On to Your Hope”

There it is again folks.  The message from one of the great heroes of our time.  The message of the prophet of old.

The message of the angels.            Amen