Reflections on a Christmas message
Reflections on a Christmas message...
Yesterday’s question from the pastor was why are we so often “unprepared” for this day, this season which we know comes at the same time, the same day each year; it does not change with celestial signs or seasons. We marvel at how quickly it comes upon us on the same day, in the same month, with the same season and without fail. Despite all we do, it inevitably comes.
Some of us rush headlong chasing the days as if we might somehow lose sight or be left behind if we do not keep up. Others try to hide in the months, weeks, days preceding pretending that we can somehow eke out another hour to hold its coming at bay. And some simply create ways to ignore it all together or push it aside chasing other pursuits. Yet, it still comes regardless of the means by which we approach it, this celebration of new life, of hope, of grace and joy. Christmas happens despite all our racing forward, denials, or ignoring.
It is a day set aside to remember and rejoice over a “gift” freely given by our Creator to draw us out of darkness into light, into relationship once again with Him. It is a time to reflect on the bountiful harvest He has provided in our lives, the richness and beauty of all He has created for us. It is a season of opportunity to leave darkness, sin, behind as we embrace His light and truth. It provides a time to share all this with our families, friends, communities.
Christmas brings us face to face with loss and gain, sorrow and joy, want and wealth, tears and laughter, darkness and light, while we struggle with the knowledge that WE are the reason for this season. We are are why He was born, lived as and among us, and sacrificed all so that we would have life abundant through a restored relationship with our Father. Christmas was never, nor is it for the Christ. It is for us to regain hope, experience joy, and know peace through the mending of our broken relationship with God.
However we choose to celebrate the season or day does not diminish the truth of the meaning behind the celebration. Beyond celebration we express thanksgiving acknowledging all that we have had, now hold and will have provided by our Creator. It is a time when we seek and release joy, discover unexpected moments of that joy in each day and help those held by darkness see a ray of hope while remembering that our griefs prove how blessed we have been and that hope is restored as we allow new joys to enter in, not erasing the past but extending our blessings.
Yet, in this season of good will and celebration, are we prepared to face the “day after?” Will we live as though it never happened? Will we carry a part of it with us for a time until, like forgotten New Year’s resolutions, we let it fade away? Will we grieve over it’s passing, never fully understanding its meaning? Or will we allow the gift to be magnified in and through us as we make our way through another year?
The true meaning of Christmas is never changing. How we choose to express, celebrate or even ignore it all is our choice and our understanding of the truth that does not change despite us. For God so loved the world, each one of us, that He gave us His only Son, the Christ, as a living sacrifice for us to restore our broken relationship with Him.
We are the reason for the season. Christ is our gift, freely given. The gift is ours to accept or reject, but the love with which it is given cannot be diminished nor denied. It is eternal. When we learn to humbly and graciously accept the gift, then we can fully experience the joy of seeing God magnify it through us and others.
Yesterday’s question from the pastor was why are we so often “unprepared” for this day, this season which we know comes at the same time, the same day each year; it does not change with celestial signs or seasons. We marvel at how quickly it comes upon us on the same day, in the same month, with the same season and without fail. Despite all we do, it inevitably comes.
Some of us rush headlong chasing the days as if we might somehow lose sight or be left behind if we do not keep up. Others try to hide in the months, weeks, days preceding pretending that we can somehow eke out another hour to hold its coming at bay. And some simply create ways to ignore it all together or push it aside chasing other pursuits. Yet, it still comes regardless of the means by which we approach it, this celebration of new life, of hope, of grace and joy. Christmas happens despite all our racing forward, denials, or ignoring.
It is a day set aside to remember and rejoice over a “gift” freely given by our Creator to draw us out of darkness into light, into relationship once again with Him. It is a time to reflect on the bountiful harvest He has provided in our lives, the richness and beauty of all He has created for us. It is a season of opportunity to leave darkness, sin, behind as we embrace His light and truth. It provides a time to share all this with our families, friends, communities.
Christmas brings us face to face with loss and gain, sorrow and joy, want and wealth, tears and laughter, darkness and light, while we struggle with the knowledge that WE are the reason for this season. We are are why He was born, lived as and among us, and sacrificed all so that we would have life abundant through a restored relationship with our Father. Christmas was never, nor is it for the Christ. It is for us to regain hope, experience joy, and know peace through the mending of our broken relationship with God.
However we choose to celebrate the season or day does not diminish the truth of the meaning behind the celebration. Beyond celebration we express thanksgiving acknowledging all that we have had, now hold and will have provided by our Creator. It is a time when we seek and release joy, discover unexpected moments of that joy in each day and help those held by darkness see a ray of hope while remembering that our griefs prove how blessed we have been and that hope is restored as we allow new joys to enter in, not erasing the past but extending our blessings.
Yet, in this season of good will and celebration, are we prepared to face the “day after?” Will we live as though it never happened? Will we carry a part of it with us for a time until, like forgotten New Year’s resolutions, we let it fade away? Will we grieve over it’s passing, never fully understanding its meaning? Or will we allow the gift to be magnified in and through us as we make our way through another year?
The true meaning of Christmas is never changing. How we choose to express, celebrate or even ignore it all is our choice and our understanding of the truth that does not change despite us. For God so loved the world, each one of us, that He gave us His only Son, the Christ, as a living sacrifice for us to restore our broken relationship with Him.
We are the reason for the season. Christ is our gift, freely given. The gift is ours to accept or reject, but the love with which it is given cannot be diminished nor denied. It is eternal. When we learn to humbly and graciously accept the gift, then we can fully experience the joy of seeing God magnify it through us and others.
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