But the best part of the Christmas season was the presents. Slowly the wrapped boxes would come. First one box would appear under the tree, then another and then another. Brown boxes would come in the mail filled with even more presents to put under the tree. By Christmas Eve the presents were so abundant that my parents had to set up another little tree in the kitchen to handle excess. Yes. we kids knew that the true meaning of Christmas was about the birth of God’s son, our Savior the baby Jesus, but really, if you asked us what Christmas was really about…we would say it is all about the presents.
In my family’s tradition we opened all of our gifts after supper on Christmas Eve. That was the longest supper ever for a bunch of kids who could barely wait to tear into the presents under the tree. We would cram our food into our mouths in lightning speed with no appreciation for the work my mom put into making this lovely meal. And unlike any other night in our house, we would refuse our dessert so as to get to the presents just that much faster. There was nothing my parents could do to slow us down.
The Christmases that we remember as children were the greatest days of our lives. We remember the magic of the trees, the music, the cookies and the presents. We remember the joy of watching holiday specials that were shown on TV once a year: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We remember brothers and sisters coming back from far away places to spend the holiday with us. We remember that for one night of the year, it felt like all the troubles of the world would disappear and as we basked in the glory of tearing through wrapping paper to reveal the toy that we longed for.
But as we grow up into adulthood, it seems that the magic of Christmas disappears bit by bit. Work, school, relationships and bills take over. Christmas becomes more of an obligation, a reminder of what we’ve lost instead of the wonder of what’s possible. As adults we try desperately to get that magic back and we’d do anything to feel the same way we did as children at Christmas but all the trees, presents and mistletoe can’t get at what we most long for on Christmas, a longing of which we cannot name but whose ache we feel nonetheless.
Some of us come this night with our hearts aching. Whether it is dealing with the grief over the recent loss of a loved one or the tension of a relationship that is strained, or even just plain homesickness for those of us who can’t be with our families tonight, we know that Christmas is not the perfection that Hallmark cards make it up to be. It is confusing, it is stressful, it is messy. However it is in the middle of this very mess that God chooses to incarnate God’s self to the world. God elevates the messiness of humanity by becoming human just like us through the birth of Jesus.
The circumstances around Jesus’ birth were quite messy. Jesus’ earthly parents Mary and Joseph were dirt poor and Mary was pregnant out of wedlock, thus tarnishing Jesus’ reputation before he was even born. Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to a chaotic town where the roads were dusty and crowded with travelers in order to be counted in a mandatory census by Caesar Augustus. And on the night that Jesus was born Mary and Joseph were homeless because they could not find a room in an inn. Mary ended up giving birth to Jesus in the only shelter they could find, a smelly dirty barn where animals ate and slept. The first people to hear the announcement of Jesus’ birth were not kings, soldiers or even priests, no, it was a bunch of shepherds in a field with their sheep. In Jesus’ day the shepherds were not considered respectable folk. They were dirty and smelly living out on the fields with no family or home to speak of. They were the marginalized, the outsiders, the throw away people of Judean society and it is to these outsiders that the angels sang, “To YOU is born…a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) To YOU outsiders, to YOU throw away people, to YOU, knee deep in the mess is born a Savior.
This friends is the magic of Christmas. The Prince of Peace, the Messiah was not born in a palace the son of a great king or queen, no he was born in a stable the son of God. The first people to know of his birth were not people of power and influence; no these were the outsiders, the marginalized, the people whom Jesus would associate with throughout his ministry. The birth of Jesus is a living testament that God is for us. That God’s amazing grace is freely given to us. Too often we think that God can only be found in that which is most perfect and beautiful but the good news is that God seeks us in the places where life is the most messy, most gritty, most chaotic. God shows up in the in the midst of our messy lives to say to us, “Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” (Luke 2:10)
On Christmas we remember that God came to us as a helpless little baby boy born into a poor family to become the greatest glory the world. For this baby born of humble circumstance would grow up to satisfy the ache of our deepest longing. The gift of Jesus is the messy embodiment of God’s love, peace and joy for the world.
“On a cold moonlit night,
In the sleepy town of Bethlehem,
Born in silence, in holiness,
In beauty and tenderness...
It all came together one precious moment,
The promise, the purpose, the gift of our Savior
For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only son
so that whosoever believes in him
will not perish but have everlasting life.” (1)
May it be so. Amen.
(1) Jaci Velasquez, “One Silent Night.” Touched by an Angel The Christmas Album.
1 comment:
Beautiful GodGurrlll! And add my "Amen" too!
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