As Christmas approaches I've heard some really sad stories this year. I know of at least three marriages that are right now in the process of dissolving and some children will not have both parents at home with them this Christmas, maybe never again. I have friends whose family members are battling cancer and having surgeries for life altering illnesses. I have seen friends and acquaintances that are lonely this year and it seems that the holidays only amplify that sadness.
As I hear these stories and get into my car to go to work or the store, I flip on the radio and listen to the beautiful songs of Christmas, most with joyful, triumphant sounding lyrics and upbeat tempos and I wonder how these two realities can exist together, side-by-side. One story filled with grief, and yet the other with one of utmost hope and peace.
Then I am reminded that it is this very, very real world that Jesus was born into. He came on purpose to a broken, lost, sad world, desperately in need of a Savior. He came not as God riding in power on a White Steed to rescue the world from pain and heartache and war and fear, but instead, He came as one of us. One of us. The power of one of His names is most important this time of year: Emmanuel, which means "God with us."
He did not wave a magic wand and make it all go away, but rather He became one of us to walk with us in the midst of the pain and heartache, war and fear. This is the message of Advent, of Christmas, that God is not a distant, non-involved God who created us and walked away, but rather in great love and sacrifice to Himself, came and lived among us to reveal the Heavenly Father who desires to walk alongside us everyday.
He came into that depressed, war-torn, hopeless world to give hope, to show love, to be God among us. Today, He is still with us, now He lives in our hearts by His spirit to give hope, to show love and be God once again among us…but He does it through each of one of us. We call ourselves "His Body." Why? Because through our hands we can give help, through our hearts we can give love, through our spirits we can share hope. It is Him in us who does these things.
Can we let Him shine bright through us this Christmas? Find someone you can bring a smile to, share a laugh with, give some hope and joy. Let Him love them through you. May you be the Christ child coming to someone this Christmas.
Maybe you haven't met Him yet. Maybe you've not let Jesus walk alongside you yet. Maybe you are one of those who is lonely and sad, wounded and hurt this year. This Christmas, I ask you to simply invite Him to show Himself to you. Praying is talking, so simply talk to Him. I believe as you open your heart to Him, Jesus will become more real to you than you can ever imagine and even in the midst of pain and heartache and loneliness, you will find a reality of joy and peace that is beyond our understanding.
