Christmas is a special time for me and my family. I. Love. Christmas. For those of you who know me, you know that i put up our Christmas lights right after halloween… and i turn them on! Come on now. Why put them up if you ain’t gonna turn them on!?

Does anyone else love Christmas and have Christmas traditions!?

We’ve got a few Christmas traditions. One tradition is our yearly Ruth Family Christmas Card. Here’s a couple we’ve done over the years…

One of the other traditions is our Ruth Family Christmas Tree Hunt. That’s right, we cut down a real tree. It’s the only time a year i use a saw because I love my fingers more! In fact, this is a tradition that was started all the way back to when I was a kid. We’d look forward to this day every year. Each year as a kid, we’d travel about 40 minutes away to go to this very specific Christmas tree farm. We loved it. It was a special day. And each year, we’d go and cut down our tree… except for one year.

You see, I have two younger brothers. We all three grew up playing baseball. Which means… we loved throwing things. If we were out and saw something we could throw, we’d throw it. Does anyone know what Christmas trees have on them? Pine cones. And since we all three played baseball, we couldn’t resist taking the pine cones and throwing them to see who could throw the farthest. I mean, we’re out in the middle of a Christmas tree farm. What could go wrong?

Well, while we were out in the middle of a field looking for a tree, there were also a dozen or so other families doing the same thing. And as we were throwing pine cone after pine cone to see who could throw them the farthest, we heard a “thud” and then… we heard crying. And then… we hid. Unfortunately for us, we were the only family in our area. So when the dad came over to see who was throwing the pine cones, it was clear who it was.

My parents were mortified. We were embarrassed. We apologized to their family. And then we promptly left without cutting down a Christmas tree. It was one of the worst starts in memory to the traditional Christmas season.

You see, growing up, that’s what Christmas was for me… a tradition. I mean, don’t get me wrong… I’d heard about Jesus being born. I’d sung the Christmas songs the one of two days a year we went to church…

“Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little lord jesus laid down his sweet head.” [In a singing voice]

But that’s all Jesus was… a traditional song I’d sing once a year. To tell the truth, it was all about the presents. Each Christmas would be about another gift me and my brothers would hope we’d get. We’d get out our toy store Christmas time magazine because you know… we didn’t have the internet back then… we couldn’t go online and make an Amazon wish list. We had to get out a thick magazine… grab a pen or highlighter… and then circle the gifts we hoped we’d get.

One year, i hoped beyond hope that I’d get a bb gun. I got it… and yes, I really did almost shoot my eye out from the bb ricocheting back just above my eye. Another year I hoped beyond hope that I would get a Sega Genesis video game system. My hope was placed on getting the present I wanted. During this time of year growing up, the source of my hope was whether or not I’d get the gift I wanted. But how many of you know that those gifts didn’t really give me what hope is supposed to give me? They weren’t the true source. Check this out:

“I pray that god, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the holy spirit.” Romans 15:13

I want you to notice a word we take for granted at times… it’s a four letter word… “will.”

The Scripture says… “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely…” “…then you will overflow…”

“Will”

It’s a simple word… but in this context… it’s a powerful word. You see, what’s being said here isn’t a possibility. It’s not even a probability. It’s a promise fulfilled. It’s going to happen… because you trust in God… you will overflow with confident hope… it’s not a question.

But how many of you know, that when I hoped for the gift I wanted, it wasn’t a sure thing that I’d get the gift. There was questioning going on. I was nervous that I wouldn’t get the gift. Essentially, I had given hope a name.

You see, hope has a name!

And that name was mom and dad when I was growing up.

And that’s a problem because mom and dad can disappoint me. Mom and dad aren’t perfect. Mom and dad can let me down. Mom and dad can argue and fight which can cause me to lose… hope.

Hope has a name.

There’s a time when we all give hope a name. For some of us, it’s mom or dad. For others of us it’s the name of a boyfriend or a girlfriend. For others, hope’s name is popularity. Hope’s name is the college you want to get into. For others, hope is the name of the friend or friends you want to be accepted or included by.

Hope has a name!

And the problem… the problem when we give hope these names… it’s that all these things can let us down. These names can make us question what’s going on. These names can make us nervous and uneasy. They can take away peace instead of filling us with peace.

Because none of those names or things were ever designed to give us what we’re truly looking for. None of those names or things were ever designed to fill us with what we really desire to be filled with.

Hope has a name.

I don’t know what name you’ve given hope.

Some of us, we’ve given hope a different name at different times and moments of our lives. For some of us, we’re holding out for hope… we’re waiting for hope.

It’s almost like the Israelites back just before the birth of Jesus. You see, they had been waiting on God to speak for four hundred years. For four hundred years God was silent. And then…

God spoke through the angel Gabriel to Zechariah…

“But the angel said, “don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him john.” Luke 1:13

Notice that four letter word again… “will.”

You see, Elizabeth was barren. She couldn’t have children. But then God intervened and made a promise. “Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son…”

And then God spoke again through the angel Gabriel, this time to Mary…

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” Luke 1:31

And then…

God spoke… He actually spoke. God himself. God in the flesh. God spoke… not in actual words… but in a cry from the baby named Jesus… the Son of God… God Himself.

God’s first words after being silent for four hundred years wasn’t actual words… it was a cry… a cry for humanity… a cry for you and I.

“And because Joseph was a descendant of king David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.” Luke 2:4-7

A promise fulfilled. God the Son, the promise of Romans 15:13… Jesus is the promise fulfilled from all the way back to the Old Testament… in the book of Micah… in the exact town that was promised.

“But you, o Bethlehem, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies until the woman in labor gives birth. Then at last his fellow countrymen will return from exile to their own land. And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world. And He will be the source of peace.” Micah 5:2-5a

The wait was over. Their holding out for hope had been delivered… had been born… and the name was given to him on the eighth day… Jesus.

You see… hope has a name! And that name is Jesus! The One who will never disappoint. The One who will hold us up. The One who will give us strength. The One who will fill us with joy and peace.

“You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, o god our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,  even those who sail on distant seas.” Psalm 65:5

Hope has a name! And his name is Jesus!

May you put your trust in the name of Jesus.