News and Justice

Misdeeds of people fill news reports every day. Watching the news (or getting it via the internet) can be a deflating and disheartening experience. Constant reports about evil behavior and violence can make us numb to evil behavior and violence. Some might think the Christmas story is a safe harbor from all this, but it is not. We looked at these verses before, but they deserve another look. In Matthew 2:16-18 it says that "when Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'" This means that this scene of horror and tears was part of the prophecy validating the birth of Christ. We don't have any carols that stream through the sound systems in our shopping malls that tell this story, yet it is central to the story of Advent. It is, however, very different in result than our daily news. When you hear the report about someone doing something awful to someone else, your soul may ache for missing justice. Something must be done. Someone must be caught. Where is God in all of this? In the Advent story we find God in all of this! He's right there smack in the middle in the the form of a helpless child. He was born right into the middle of all that is wrong in this world to forever change it. Herod is, as I pointed out in an earlier entry, a reflection of the self-seeking worst in all of us; the representative of each of us breaking the 10th commandment and coveting our way down the highway of inhuman brutality. Jesus stands in the middle of this highway, blocking all that opposes Him. The lack of comfort in the Rachel prophecy further points to Jesus. For He is, in fact, the only comfort we have in this life. And He is an amazing comfort. Once I remember the good news about Him, it changes the way I read today's news. Despair surrenders to hope. Violence surrenders to peace. Fear surrenders to faith.

How are you dealing with the news in your life and in your world today? Does it hit you hard? Do you hit it back with your faith in Christ? Are you trusting Him for hope and justice today? If not, why?