{"id":1266,"date":"2022-12-27T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T11:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/?p=1266"},"modified":"2025-04-09T16:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T20:28:03","slug":"christmas-reflections-christmas-and-the-disappointed-faithful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/christmas-reflections-christmas-and-the-disappointed-faithful\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Reflections &#8211; Christmas and the Disappointed Faithful"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;30&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;30&#8243; row_hide_sm=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_md=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_xs=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_zindex=&#8221;999&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1706724136730{background-color: #faf5eb !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container-fluid 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Mason<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_3\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953b059473d9621032334\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_4\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953b059474fa322479492\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amblesideschools.com\/main\/educator-support\" target=\"_blank\">Members<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\"><span style=\"color: #003865;\">&gt; Return to Articles<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Christmas Reflections &#8211; Christmas and the Disappointed Faithful&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%23020202&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;15&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,<\/p>\n<p>for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.<\/p>\n<p>He has raised up a mighty savior for us<\/p>\n<p>in the house of his servant David\u2026<\/p>\n<p>And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;<\/p>\n<p>for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,<\/p>\n<p>to give knowledge of salvation to his people<\/p>\n<p>by the forgiveness of their sins.<\/p>\n<p>By the tender mercy of our God,<\/p>\n<p>the dawn from on high will break upon us,<\/p>\n<p>to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,<\/p>\n<p>to guide our feet into the way of peace. <sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So prophesied the aged priest, Zachariah, his cup overflowing. For decades, Zachariah\u2019s life, together with that of his wife, had been a story of disappointed faithfulness. Having lived blameless lives, true to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord, both were \u201crighteous before God.\u201d And yet, things had not gone as promised or expected. There was no greater disappointment for a Jewish couple than to be without child. Given the Psalm\u2019s promise to those \u201cwho walk in His ways\u201d that \u201cyour wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house,\u201d <sup>2<\/sup> to be without child was for Zachariah and Elizabeth to be among those forsaken by God, abandoned not only to profound personal disappointment but also to public disgrace. Their very names seemed a mockery. \u00a0Zachariah means \u201cYahweh has remembered.\u201d Elizabeth means \u201cGod has sworn.\u201d Yet, God seemed to have forgotten and foresworn. They were among the disappointed faithful. But then, as a preliminary to Christmas, \u201cthere appeared to him [Zachariah] an angel of the Lord\u201d declaring beyond all hope, the unfathomable words:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. <sup>3<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The world has two kinds of people, the disappointed faithless and the disappointed faithful. Since the time of Adam and Eve, the world has disappointed, \u00a0and, when left to itself, the world will always disappoint. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something. And, this is why we need something so completely unexpected, so completely gratuitous, as Christmas. Christmas is the story of God decisively breaking into history on behalf of the disappointed faithful. We must not demand, and we cannot control the coming of our personal Christmases, any more than the nation of Israel could demand or control the first Christmas. But\u00a0we can remain faithful knowing that He has come, knowing that He is here, knowing that He is coming. Such is the invitation, the promise and\u00a0the joy of Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>May yours be a blessed and merry Christmas season, particularly if you are among the disappointed faithful.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]<sup>1<\/sup> Luke 1: 68-69, 76-79 (NRSV)<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup> Psalm 128 (NRSV)<\/p>\n<p><sup>3<\/sup> Luke 1:13-17 (NRSV)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Giorgione, <em>Adoration of the Shepherds,\u00a0<\/em>oil on panel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nga.gov\/collection\/art-object-page.432.html\">National Gallery of Art<\/a>, Public Domain[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCeWFycHAlNUQ=[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world has two kinds of people, the disappointed faithless and the disappointed faithful. Since the time of Adam and Eve, the world has disappointed, and, when left to itself, the world will always disappoint. Christmas is the story of God decisively breaking into history on behalf of the disappointed faithful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[192,195],"class_list":["post-1266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bill-st-cyr","category-traditions","tag-christmas-reflections","tag-disappointed-faithful"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christmas Reflections - Christmas and the Disappointed Faithful - Ambleside International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christmas is the story of God decisively breaking into history on behalf of the disappointed faithful.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/christmas-reflections-christmas-and-the-disappointed-faithful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas Reflections - 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