But, for many, Christmas-time is difficult. With constant reminders of family - as well as a huge overemphasis on giving and receiving of gifts - not having one or the other makes such reality marked. After all, who wants to be broke or alone - especially at Christmas?
I once read that for every 'happy' person walking about there are three others within arms distance struggling. Truth be told, we are all just one phone call away from unhappiness!
But it shouldn't be like this - especially for we who are in Christ. For if Christmas brings anything, it certainly brings joy. A joy possessed in Christ. One realized from the inside out - regardless of circumstances. Or, might I allow? - in spite of them.
As a younger pastor I was want to say, 'there is no excuse for a Christian not feeling joy.' Of course I still know this sounds right, and I know it to be theologically true - but, still, we do. We do because we are human and our mind is not the mind of God. We determine favor - from God or anyone - from the perspective of circumstance. From our view in the mirror, as Paul would say.
So what must we do? Well, we should recall 'His ways are not ours'. We must remember that His view - both of us and for us - is eternal. And we must know that the things He values - as much as we'd like to think of as being the same as ours - just aren't. At least not naturally.
My assistant opined something today worth sharing - that on that first Christmas morning, when Jesus was laying in Mary's arms and everyone was feeling all that they felt, the one person looking upon this scene from a different, less than 'fuzzy warm' perspective, was God. He knew that this baby, His Son, was going to die! And, if there was anyone on that first Christmas morning not feeling the joy of the kind we so oft desire - it was Him. God's joy was larger than the moment. It lay in the whole story, including the finish. And so, too, must ours. For 'Immanuel' really is with us.
And that is simply CHRISTmas, indeed!
Pastor Sam
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