The Hope of Christmas

by

“For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian,”  – Isaiah 9:4, NRSVue

Dear Friends,

We serve a God of justice. We serve a God who looks out for the least. We serve a God who loves us and calls us to a love centered in right and just relationships with God, with others and with the earth. 

According to the Prophet Isaiah, this God will be revealed in a savior who will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This savior will burn “…the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood.” He will break the bar of oppression and bring justice and peace to our world. (Isaiah 9:1-7, NRSVue)

What a glorious promise. Yet it sometimes seems unfulfilled -- especially now, as authoritarian movements rise across the globe and as war and violence rage in Ukraine, Congo, Gaza, and Sudan. How are we to have hope for peace when such conflicts continue and even our own church in Nigeria is experiencing ideologically driven violence? How are we to have hope for justice when racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, homophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment and other forms of exclusion continue to grow and when the most vulnerable among us are being marginalized? 

I believe that we hold onto hope by doing what we have always done and what faithful Christians have done before us. We rely on our faith in God and model our lives after the one we celebrate this Christmas. We commit ourselves even more to Christ-like works of justice, peace, mercy and love. We advocate for the oppressed and do what we can to protect and care for the earth. 

Indeed, if the universe is to bend toward justice, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once imagined, it will do so because faithful people put their hands to the plow and hold fast to the hope that was born at Christmas.

May you hold onto hope, peace, love and joy this Christmas Season!

Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai is resident bishop of the Iowa Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church and shares episcopal oversight of the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference with Bishop David A. Bard (Michigan Area).