Rev. Dr. Pat Hannon: The Christmas Wish List
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The Christmas Wish List
Written by Rev. Dr. Pat Hannon
Read by Rev. Dr. Pat Hannon
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The Christmas Wish List
“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:1-4
When I was a child, the season of Advent was dominated by pondering the answer to one question: What do I want for Christmas? Every year I diligently sought to craft the perfect Christmas wish list.
Making a Christmas list was an activity filled with hope—hope that I could receive whatever I truly wanted. Yes, I knew I would not receive everything I asked for, but there remained the glimmer of possibility that wrapped under the tree on Christmas morning could be the item I most desired in the world—with my name on it.
Isaiah 64 opens with Isaiah’s wish list. He cries out for that one thing that he longs for more than any other: for God to step out of heaven and come down to make the reality of His presence seen on earth. Isaiah has written about all of the tragedy and injustice he has seen in the world. He calls out for the one thing that could set everything right: for God to come and be among us.
Advent calls us to wait in hope that God is breaking into the world. In light of this hope, what will be on your Christmas list this year?
-Rev. Dr. Pat Hannon, from The Indiana Wesleyan University Advent Devotional Guide 2011
Advent Family Prayer
Here is a guide for prayer that I compiled for my family to using this Advent. I’m happy to share it with you. I’d love to hear if you find it useful as well.
"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
— From C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Shared in my IWU chapel talk What do you want for Christmas? Ask for more!
Advent: God is coming…
You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
-Isaiah 40:9
