Clothesline 278 "God's hints"

This past Sunday we looked at all the hints God gives us. You know what I mean…those things that on the surface don’t seem like a big deal, but when they come to fruition, they are a very big deal.

Let me give you an example. Two seemingly uneventful events happened on the same day and the same year: February 12, 1809. Two baby boys were born: one in Shrewsbury, England and one in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Both babies lived normal lives for the time in which they were born, but both grew up to fulfill their purpose. Born of a medical doctor and his wife, Charles—Darwin, that is—turned the scientific world on its head. And the other baby Abraham Lincoln, grew up to be president of the United States. Two babies—subtle hints of greatness to come.

God deals in possibilities. Two infants born to grow into greatness. And in causing the infant Jesus to be born—to quote the famed preacher, William Sloane Coffin—he [Jesus] “hits the world with the force of a hint.”

The world in Jesus’ time—much like the world of today—was in desperate need of a Savior. The people, including John the Baptist, were looking for a Messiah with the reins of a chariot in his hand—a righteous general at the head of an army. But what did God send? A baby…an authority of a very different order. The sign of this Savior’s coming is not the scorched earth of a vengeful army, as John imagined. No, the sign echoes the poetry of Isaiah—a fresh, green shoot sprouting forth from the stump of Jesse. In Jesus, God does indeed hit the world with the force…of a hint. A hint of new life for those hungry to hear good news. A hint of new life for you and for me.

While John asks, “Are you the one who is to come?” Jesus gives a very different answer. “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” No army…just subtle hints to hit the world with the power of his love.

God still speaks to us that way, in hints and whispers. The touch of God’s hand on this earth is exceedingly subtle. God’s call comes, most often, not with a trumpet’s fanfare, but with a gentle beckoning—a call…a nudge…a hint.

In these few days left of Advent, listen carefully for those quiet suggestions, those subtle hints that come only from God. Jesus, the hint of the season, stands at the door of your heart. Will you invite Him in?