Advent and Christmas are not the "best" seasons for everybody. With people who are hurting in mind, we offer a gathering time "The Longest Night" which provides time for reading, reflection, worship and prayer.... a quiet time rather than a festive time. I offer to you, today, my reflection for this evening's "Longest Night" worship service (7 pm at Christ the Redeemer).
Several years ago I spent a good bit of Advent speaking with one of my friends about the fact that, for us, December is truly a difficult month. It seems that all of the glitz and glitter and the outbursts of holly jolly and jingle bells are annoying at times. They accentuate the contrast between how society has said the Holidays are supposed to be, … and the tender, strained feelings we may actually experience as we make our way through the season.
It seems like an artificially constructed countdown. We hear it during the final days of Advent…. 5,4,3,2,1… and “Christ is Born”!!!!! People will shout out Merry Christmas…..they will frolic and feast throughout the day, and then the day after they may begin to return their unwanted gifts or shop for bargains for next year’s decorations. Even in the happiest of Christian families, such purely external celebrations seem shallow… in families where "all is well," the joy that bursts forth on Christmas will glow well into Epiphany... but in a household that is uffering in any way, the surface trappings of Christmas Joy may simply aggravate our wounds.
In those cases we may feel, quite honestly, very weird in the presence of Christmas cheer. So when our hearts are broken and our spirits are weary, we must cling to the deeper, eternal message of Christ’s Birth, not just the temporary power-surge of good feelings. When pain lingers in the corner of every hour, we need to look beyond the warm sentimental feelings generated by the Babe in the Manger. We need to hear more than that Christ is Born. We need to see the Cross in the Manger as well…that Christ Born came also to die so that we could hear, even today, the Easter proclamation of new life to come.
We don’t want to miss out on the Easter message, which in many ways is muted at Christmas time. God’s gift in Christ is not about making us better or happier people. It is about making us NEW people. God’s gift in Christ is that when any aspect of our life is dying or dies, we know that in some marvelous, mysterious way, New Life will emerge.... eventually.
God sent Christ because God knows that our lives are broken. Earlier tonight you reflected upon that brokenness…. Your darkness needs much more than twinkle of cheer or good will, doesn’t it? … Well, imagine that your sorrow is held in the highest, most glorious light imaginable…. And then multiply that image by an infinite amount! The Good News of this week is that God’s Gift sheds a light that can totally overcome darkness!
God’s additional gift, the REAL Christmas Cheer of all of this, is that the gift is given whether or not you think you are ready for it. You don’t need to get your act together, or wear a mask of glee…. Christmas comes into all lives, even those where darkness seems to prevail.
Remember now and in the days ahead that God is giving YOU the gift of new life. God’s Gift is custom made, specifically fit to meet you where and how you are. Be how you are… stop struggling to be how you wish you were or how you think you should be during this season. As part of your preparation this year, turn your ears away from what others are telling you about how the holidays “should be” so that you can Hear God’s wonderful news, for you!
God says to YOU…. “I bring you this news of great Joy….. Unto you is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Nothing will ever be the same again. From now on, it is all new!”
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