Thrill of Hope: A Christmas Reflection

Christmas Eve is where’s it at! There is everything to hope for, zero disappointment. On Christmas Eve the starry night feels eternal, nothing but joy on the horizon…
 
You see, this side of glory – here on broken, dark, mortal earth – the only pure joy we can experience is hope of heaven. Hope of all things made new, no more sorrow, sadness, tears or death. If even a drop of that hope lands on our minds, hearts, souls, we experience a thrill. It is pure escape. To ‘feel’ that spirit is not just hope; it is ‘living hope’. It is a ‘thrill of hope’. We often glimpse this on Christmas Eve. 
 
But when Christmas Day arrives, that hope converts into limited, tangible things. Our souls soared the night before, but then crash land on a package, an item, a thing. The magical night sky becomes a rather glaring, kind of depressing morning sky. I mean, it's still fun, but it has come to an end. The spirit of hope, the ‘thrill of hope’, the ‘living hope’, becomes a lot of stuff on the floor.
 
(Not to mention the broken stuff, the lack of gratitude, the stuff that needs to be returned, etc.)
 
So let’s get back to the Holy Night, the night before, when a thrill of hope descended on our soul. What was that?
 
The truth is that the story of Jesus Christ was a story of ‘living hope’. Hope of a future in heaven. Yes, Jesus coming to earth was God coming to earth, so the beginning of the glorious end was plugged in here and now. God came, connected heaven to earth, broke open the doorway. So for now we pray and live for, bringing heaven to earth. Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.’

But Heaven itself will be our actual 'Christmas Day' - the one that will not disappoint - when we wake up not to stockings and gifts, but to streets of gold, loved ones we lost, and a ‘crystal clear’ river flowing through the city from the throne of God. (Revelation 22:1-5) Hope of heaven came with the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the 'thrill of hope' that touches your soul on Christmas Eve. And the day you sleep, and wake to heaven, will be your real Christmas Day.
 
‘A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices…’ (O Holy Night, 1843)
 
‘In Jesus we have living hope....’ (1Peter1:3)

---