Christmas

So I have a confession to make…

This will be my forty-seventh Christmas! With the way this year has gone and with Christmas fast approaching, I began reminiscing about all the Christmases of my past.

As I thought back over my years, it seems as though I have had Christmases that included both extreme difficulties and extreme blessings.

There was a year as a child that I was so ill, my doctor called my mother on Christmas Eve to inform her that the tests showed that I was not going to die. There was the Christmas, that through some creative bartering, I was given a horse! I have experienced Christmases of being showered with gifts and ones with just a couple presents. There have been years celebrating while surrounded by family and friends and a couple by myself. There has however, been one constant through all the Christmases of my life and that still holds true this year.

That constant is Jesus. Even during the darkest Christmases, the fact of Jesus coming to earth as Emmanuel, God With Us, has been a beacon of comfort and hope. When I was a young teenager I began a tradition that on midnight Christmas Eve I read the Christmas story from the Bible. (This is in Luke 2:1-20) I have found peace as I have read of the miracle of a God Who loves us so much that He sent His son to earth to save us. This peace has transcended whatever circumstances I have found myself in that particular Christmas.

I believe that this will still be the case this year. I have hope that even this Christmas with all of the turmoil and uncertainty that so many people find themselves in, that the truth and light of this season will still shine brightly. I pray that we can focus on the love that came to us in the form of a baby who grew into God With Us and then freely died and rose again to give us the gift of salvation–the best Christmas present ever, one that will never fail.

“For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

Love is such a big concept it can be hard to even get our minds around it.  The gift God sent us that first Christmas was love, wrapped in the form of His son Jesus.  Jesus coming into the world to sacrifice Himself for us is the purest form of love we will ever encounter.

We all know we overuse the word love.  I love pizza.  I love walking in the rain.  I love…fill in the blank.  Then we turn around and try to use this same word to describe some of the most important people in the world to us.  No wonder love is confusing!

However, God is very straightforward about love, in fact I John 4:16 says God is love. God has poured out His love into our hearts.  That is amazing if you think about it, because that means God has poured Himself into us.  The tricky part is receiving this gift of love.

I really enjoy giving gifts at Christmas time.  I have fun finding something special that I think the person will like.  Then I wrap it up and give it to them.  I would be really sad if they said, “no thanks,” and didn’t even unwrap the gift.  You probably see where I’m going with this.  This is  what a lot of people end up doing with Jesus, God’s gift to us.  He is there waiting to forgive them and fill them with love, and they say, “no thanks.”

Receiving a gift can be hard.  We might not feel we deserve anything.  We might be afraid of owing something in return.  But when we say yes to God’s gift something wonderful happens.  We are filled with His love and amazing grace.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”  I John 4:7-9

Spring is coming!  Probably not what you expected to read for the first post of December, but my little boy just came in all excited to tell me spring is coming because he just saw green grass starting to grow.  Well, we live in California and the only time we have green on our hills is in the winter.  So even though I know we still have all of winter ahead of us, I think it fits in perfectly because just as we have hope that spring will come after winter, the first Sunday in Advent is focused on hope!

This hope is two-fold.  We remember the longing and anticipation for a Messiah who would save the world from the sin that started with Adam and Eve, which was fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming.  And we look forward to when Jesus returns in His second coming or Advent.

Hope is such a powerful thing because it can carry us through our present sufferings like nothing else can.  It can lift our eyes from the problems we are struggling with right in front of us, to God and His glorious power to overcome those difficulties.  It opens up possibilities where none existed before and it encourages us to take one more step in faith.

Those of us who have experienced suffering have a deeper hope.  In Romans 5:3-4, the Bible says that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character hope.  Just as when we light Advent candles, they push away the darkness, so hope can push away doubt and fear.  Then we in turn can share the light of hope in Christ with others.

Romans 5:5 goes on to say that hope does not disappoint us, because of the love that God has poured into our hearts. I pray that this Christmas season you will be filled with hope by the Holy Spirit!

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”  Romans 5:2-5

For so many of us, this year has felt very dark. In the timeline of history, this is not necessarily novel, in fact we even have a time period labeled the Dark Ages. However, for most of us alive today we could argue that this has been one of the darkest times in recent memory.

As we have approached the Christmas season, I have noticed that there are quite a few people hoping Christmas, with all of the cheer we usually associate with it, will somehow redeem this difficult year. While this is not inherently wrong, if we are just relying on the trappings of Christmas to lighten our mood, we still might find ourselves stumbling around in the dark.

To find out how Christmas is really going to save the year, we have to go all the way back to the very first one. That first Christmas was filled with light: there was the star that shone over the place Jesus was born; there was the glory that shone over the shepherds when the angels announced the news of Jesus’ birth; and in fact, John the Baptist does not call Jesus by name, but instead refers to Him as, “The true Light, which enlightens everyone…coming into the world.” (John 1:9)

The entire reason Jesus came to earth was to bring light into darkness. The world had been languishing in sin and evil since Adam and Eve had first disobeyed in the garden. All of history was leading up to that moment when the angels, surrounded by the glory of heaven, announced the Messiah’s birth.

Every year we get to be a part of a reenactment of sorts of that first Christmas as we count down to Christmas Day. If we allow Jesus as our Savior to bring His light into our hearts and accept His gift of salvation, Christmas truly can save our year, and our eternity as well!

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Isaiah 9:2

“I, (Jesus) have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.” John 12:46

How many times have I had to listen to my children yell that at each other??? For some reason every time one of them wants to sit down in the living room, another child wants to sit in that exact spot or squeeze in right next to them. This inevitably leads to a squabble about making room. Unfortunately, my children are not the only ones who have a difficult time making room for someone who should hold an important place in their lives.

From before He was even born, Jesus had a hard time finding room. When His parents showed up to crowded Bethlehem, they were told there was no vacancy in the inn. They had to squeeze in among the livestock and Jesus’ first bed was a manger filled with hay.

Jesus’ siblings found it difficult to understand that He was the Messiah and at first did not find space in their own hearts for His message of redemption. That did change later on for at least some of His brothers, but I guess it makes me feel a little better about the scuffles among my kids! This was also the case for many of His neighbors, they could not believe that the Jesus they had known since He was a child, was the Savior of the world.

The worst antagonists, of course, were the Jewish religious leaders. In a confrontation at the temple, close to the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He flat out told them that He knew they were trying to kill Him because they had no room for His word!

Even now, although the whole reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Christ, we can have a hard time making room for Him in our busy schedules. Gift buying and wrapping, holiday events and parties, decorating and baking can all squeeze Jesus out. This December I want to carve out time to contemplate God becoming flesh, living among us and conquering death to offer us salvation. I want to create space in my heart for Jesus to dwell. Will you join me this Christmas season in making room for Him?

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7

I am sure all of you have seen Charlie Brown’s Christmas at some point in your life. I have probably watched it every single year. I know that we are supposed to feel a little sorry for the outcast character that Charlie portrays, but really, I think he ends up having the best Christmas of all.

Just in case you haven’t seen it, or it’s been awhile, the show follows Charlie’s search for the real meaning of Christmas. He has a vague feeling that it can’t all be about gifts and commercialism, but doesn’t know where to go for the answer.

I really can’t blame him, it can definitely be confusing this time of year. Even if we know it isn’t all about presents or decorations, we can substitute seemingly good, innocent things like family for the real reason we are all celebrating.

It can be hard to stay focused on the reason for the season when we feel pulled in a million directions and pressured to do it all. One thing I like to do during Christmas time is to read the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke in the Bible. I try to really put myself in the place of Mary and how she felt when she heard the angel’s announcement. I think of Joseph and wonder what on earth he thought? And those shepherds, wow, what must that have been like to see a host of angels?

Basically I try to recapture the wonder of the Son of God coming to us in the form of a baby in a manger. When I take the time to slow down and do that I feel a little like Charlie Brown after his buddy Linus finally explained Christmas to him. Charlie gets this kind of goofy smile on his face, picks up his scrawny little Christmas tree and skips out into the snow where a million stars twinkle down on him.

May you find time this year to really feel the wonder of that first Christmas. To allow the awe and mystery to put a goofy little smile on your face. And maybe even break out in a Christmas song.

“Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!” Luke 2:10-11