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Take Courage

So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD! —PSALM 31:24 (NLT)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023

As we prepare for Christmas morning, we might have the manger scene in our mind’s eye. A star lights the way. Clay shepherds and wise men will arrive unharmed. Mary and Joseph will find a cozy place to stay. A baby will be born (skipping all the gory details). This lovely scene has become a beautiful nativity, but those whomlived through the story know the real fear that was carriedmin every step and every decision. Mary was afraid of being stoned to death for being pregnant outside of marriage. Joseph turned over in his mind the fear of judgment and exile within a small community for his engagement to an already-pregnant Mary. The wise men knew the courage it would take to face a vindictive king and possible death from their long journey. The shepherds must have been worried about leaving their sheep unattended in the fields, losing their livelihood and perhaps not being able to feed their families. Mary certainly understood the anxiety of giving birth, with each growing contraction. Every step was full of fear, and yet there was one small sliver of hope that this baby being born could possibly change the world. It was that hope that gave them the courage to keep moving forward.

Hope requires a whole lot of courage. If we were certain we could control the outcome, we wouldn’t need to hope at all. Hope is not made out of certainty; it is made out of necessity. This is so often where the followers of Jesus get confused. You can be certain there is a God. You can be certain of God’s presence. But you can’t be certain about everything. Hope is what gives you a way to go on—even if you are not going to get relief from ordinary and extraordinary pain, even when your loved one has died, even if your partner does not come back, even if you don’t get to see the culmination of your own dreams. People who are hopeful know all about fear. Hope is seeing reality and having the courage to keep going, to keep moving, to keep loving, and to keep hoping.

READ THIS BLESSING FROM THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE

for courage when you don’t feel very brave (p. 104)

Perhaps fear is not something to be vanquished,

But rather that strange friend who tell us who we love,

and what we can’t live without.

REFLECT

1. What are some of your biggest fears right now? How do those fears teach you something about what you love and cherish?

2. When we are most afraid, hope gives us the courage to keep moving. Where do you need a little courage today? How can you ask someone to walk this path with you by encouraging and having hope for you and with you, when you simply can’t do it yourself?

GOING DEEPER

• How can you share hope today with someone you know or perhaps a stranger on the street? How can you walk with them on their journey, listening to their fears and showing them love? Can you write a note or text message to someone you know not giving false optimism but infusing them with courage?

• In a conversation between Kate and theologian Stanley Hauerwas (“More Life, Fewer Explanations”), Stanley says, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but it is the formation of rightly fearing what should be feared. If the courageous person didn’t know fear they’d just be foolhardy. They wouldn’t be courageous. So the courageous have fears that the coward will never know.” Watch this clip (3.5 min) to hear Stanley’s understanding about the difference between happiness and hope and the courage it takes to hope.

• Take a minute to think about all the things that Mary and Joseph had to face as the parents of Jesus. Listen to “Refugee King” by Liz Vice also on our Advent Spotify Playlist.

From "Bless the Advent we Actually Have" by Kate Bowler and The Everything Happens Project