The real meaning of Christmas

 This year I've felt a little bit like Charlie Brown, I have wondered, what is the meaning of Christmas?

 As I went through the fall and noticed Christmas decor on the store shelves before Halloween, as I noted that stores were open on Thanksgiving now in order to get great Christmas deals I wondered...what is Christmas all about? Being a Christian, I KNOW what Christmas is all about the  birth of Jesus who is our Messiah and Saviour, I know that, but where is he? I see lights, presents and carolers. I put on concerts, bake cookies, shop for gifts etc., but where is Jesus? Is he in the Christmas lists of presents we ask our families for? Is he in the line at the mall to see Santa? Is he at Church or maybe only at church? Is he is the adopt-a-family or at the soup kitchen? I began to think about all of the things that make up Christmas and began to wonder how they add up to Jesus. Most years all of the wonder of the Christmas season points me to Jesus but this year it has distracted me. I have been focusing on the presents I wish I could give to people or wishing my current life place felt more secure. I have been dreading the surgery that looms for my daughter when the Christmas season is over and wishing with all of my heart I could see all of my loved ones to celebrate. As I have been wading through the emotional mess of this year I was reminded by God that these things I am wrestling with are exactly why I celebrate Christmas. God did not come only to stay a baby, he came to grow into a man, to minister to the broken and eventually die for the sins of the world. He came to save and redeem me. He came to be Lord over all. He gave so that I might give. He died so that I might live. He wants to be Lord over everything, my sadness, my joy, my brokenness, my celebrations, everything. He wants to be there in the beauty of the music my students make. He wants to be there in the kindness we share with one another. He want to be in our hearts as we choose gifts to give to those around us how much we love them. He wants us to have joy and wonder, he wants to be Our King of Kings, Immanuel the prince of peace.

This Sunday, the pastor of Cape Bible Chapel presented a message about Christmas and being in the holiday spirit. He reminded the congregation that the birth of Jesus is miraculous. Not only is this unfathomable that a virgin could conceive and bear a child, a child that would be the son of God but that that son would actually be God. The whole thing is mind blowing. The God of the Universe sets aside his glory to grow inside a young girls womb for 9 months. The creator and sustain of life is now a helpless baby. The God of the universe has to rely on people to care for his needs, let that sink in a minute. As I pondered these truths I was transported back in time to past Christmas'. As a young girl I understood the mysterious truth of the birth of Christ. I imagined what it must have been like for Mary to be told that she was with child and that that child was God's own son. What Joseph must have felt when his intended bride that he had not yet slept with was found to be with child. How he must have felt relieved but also afraid when the angel told him that the child inside of Mary's womb  was God. I imagine that might be a bit intimidating to a young man. I imagined what obstacles two young people in their situation must have faced. I used to listen to carols like Angels We Have Heard on High and imagine what the shepherds must have been thinking when they saw the angel announce the birth of Christ. What would it have been like to visit the Savior of the world as an infant and play a drum like the Carol of the little drummer boy? I do not think that carol has any true historical reference but the thought of having nothing to bring the newborn king but yourself makes me smile.

Jesus came to be the Messiah but he came as a baby. He came in human flesh to walk as we walk, to live as we live. He came to be fully God and fully man. Eventually the baby born in a manger would die for you and for I. He would pay the penalty for sin, not so that we can be better people, or do good deeds, or got to church on holidays or feel good about ourselves. He came and died for our sin that we might be saved from death and live in everlasting glory. He came to transform our lives and make us into His image more and more each day. He came to dwell in us with His Holy Spirit so that we might honor and bless him with our lives. He came to radically transform our lives and change history. Mysterious and wonderful. That is much more wondrous than a strand of LED lights, a fat man with lots of presents or even reindeer that have learned to fly. This holiday season I hope you will think in childlike wonder about the baby born in Bethlehem a little over 2,000 years ago. I hope you will allow yourself to imagine the circumstances of his birth, his childhood, adolescence, ministry and finally his death and resurrection. I hope you will lose yourself in the wonder of the true meaning of Christmas and meet that tiny baby boy who changed the world and wants to change your life.

Thankful

Recently I came across this someecard on Facebook. I love someecards mainly because I have a very sarcastic and somewhat dry sense of humor. This card however did not make me laugh but instead it made me stop and think. You see every year I give myself the task of being thankful for 30 days. I give myself this task that I might see beyond myself and my circumstances. I do it publicly to be accountable because lets face it, who does not like a good pity party. As I pondered the ecard, I began to wonder...am I ungrateful? Do I complain for the majority of the year only to be thankful for 30 days? It made me think about my own heart attitude. 

This November I have found it difficult at times to be thankful. I have struggled some days to think of something that I am thankful for. It seems like life is full of hills and valleys. It is easy to live with a grateful heat when you are living in triumph or are on top of the world, conversely it is difficult in the midst of struggle to see the wonder and joy around you. I struggle often times with this emotional blindness that makes me feel and possibly seem ungrateful.

As I pondered these things further, I began to wonder, does the presence of struggle, anxiety, heartache, frustration and the like negate thankfulness? Can you be real about your emotions and where you are at in life and still live out your days as a person who is grateful for all that the Lord has done? I think the answer is yes. The Bible does not tell us that we have to be happy all of the time, in fact it is full of accounts of people who are very much not happy. The Bible does however command us to give thanks. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. "- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 ESV As I thought all month about my personal thankfulness challenge and the fact that honestly I did not feel thankful sometimes, I began to wonder about verses like the one in 1 Thessalonians. Why does God call us to give thanks for ALL things, doesn't he know that some things are hard? Each day that I was thankful I began to struggle more. Life began to hand me more and more challenges. Personal, financial, physical....but I had started the month of being thankful and I was going to finish!! Each day as I thought about what I had to praise God for, the struggles seemed to be less insurmountable. I began to think "if I have so much to be thankful for then surely God will hear and answer me in my current distress." In the days that followed I also began to trust God's goodness even if he did not answer every distress call immediately or how I think he should. Each day of faithfulness to the goal I set for myself, the more my outlook changed and the easier it was to make it through each day. A very wise friend of mine said to me once, that depression can be diminished by being thankful. She told me that writing down 375 things you are thankful for can lessen depression considerably. After only finding thirty thankful things and feeling much better about some pretty challenging life trials, I think she may be on to something. God knows that here in this world that is sinful and broken we will not find hope if we do not look to him. God knows that if our hearts are focused on situations and the brokenness of the world and those around us our hope will fail. I believe that is why he commands us to be thankful. God is so amazing that not only does he provide for our physical needs but he also provides for our emotional needs.