Window of Transformation

The story of Christmas includes Mary’s vision and Joseph’s dream. Yet, although the dreams tell us much, we lack an understanding of the precise timing. We know that the angel Gabriel reveals that Mary is with child. We know that she made haste to go and visit her cousin Elizabeth. And we know that Joseph intended to quietly divorce Mary until an angelic dream. What we don’t know is the timeframe between Mary’s vision and Joseph’s dream. For both of them, there was a difficult time of waiting. Mary has fled the rejection she would have experienced as a woman pregnant outside of the covenant of marriage. Joseph is reeling, trying to make sense of the noble girl he loves and how she could have betrayed him. This week’s window invites us to see how hope—rooted in God’s promises and presence—is not static. It invites transformation: of our lives, our character, our communities. One writer observes: “The hope of Advent is that Jesus will use our suffering to form us into people of love to co-rule with Him in the world to come.” (preachingtoday.com) In other words, the waiting matters, because it shapes us. We are not merely passive spectators; hope invites us into growth.