The appearance of Hope in a small package

Hope is something that humanity has been clamoring for most of our history, often missing the evidences of hope revealed in the smallest of packages. We speak of it, long for it, but then miss it when it shows up “wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12, NIV). I tend to want my hope in big packages, offered in a dynamic presentation, revealed so that no one can mistake it for anything else. I want unmistakable hope!

I am reminded of a passage in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah is told the presence of the Lord is about to pass by. The passage reads: “The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:11–12, NIV). A gentle whisper. My humanity wants God to be in the fire, the earthquake, the wind, but He is not in any of these. He was in the whisper. Nothing dynamic about that, and yet, as insignificant as that might seem, it was a message from God.

For those who experienced the Hope of mankind “wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” it would have been easy to miss what was about to happen; not that day, or even the next year, but in time the world would be changed by that smallest of packages, that seemingly insignificant little baby boy who would become the Savior of all mankind.

May this Christmas find a renewed hope for each of us; in the messages we hear, the nativities and lights we see, the cards we read. May we not discount even the smallest of observances and remember that hope may come in small packages, but revealed so that all may believe.

 — Dr. Rick Christman, CIU Acting President