Every year we look back and say, "Where did the time go?" Surprised that another year has gone by. The Christmas season is a time of contrasting emotions but this year in particular finds us with unique challenges. Our gatherings with friends and family look different. Feelings of loneliness and isolation have increased. Hope may be mingled with dread, anticipation with despair. Even in a 'normal' year, our inner voice can be drowned out by superficial distractions, leaving us drained and frustrated as the busyness robs us of the deeper meaning of the season.
We are living between the first Advent of Jesus Christ and the second Advent - His return. The essence of Advent is expectancy. A watchfulness. A time of hope and expectation. Christmas is about a promise fulfilled. Within the manger lies the cross, and the hope of redemption and resurrection. We look with fresh eyes at who Jesus is and are astonished anew at this amazing story. God is faithful. His plans prevail. In fact, it is only in God's coming that the Bible itself is given value.
God waited a thousand years after King David to bring the Messiah. 700 years after the prophesies in Isaiah. 400 years after the last prophet, Malachi. And then God showed up in the most amazing series of surprises. That's the thing about love. It will take you to surprising places. It will take many forms. The Father brought that love to a young, frightened girl in a backwater town called Nazareth on the outskirts of society. Then He caused a worldwide census to position her in Bethlehem. And God gave the message to uncouth, dirty shepherds that His love had been born in a barn and placed in the feeding trough of the cattle. Then He brought from the east Magi, pagan astrologers to the Christ child. How utterly bizarre. And then He caused the Messiah's flight to Egypt through the threat of Herod - the very place He had rescued His people from slavery. That love became a carpenter who became homeless and spent His time with the sick, the lame and the outcasts. He became despised while continuing to love those who despised and wished to hurt Him.
We long for a love that lasts. A love that is brave, not shaken. God offers a supernatural love, a love that compelled Jesus to leave His home in Heaven and take on human frailty as 'Immanuel', God With Us.
We hear a lot these days about 'Intersectionality'. How race, class, gender, etc. intersect and overlap. A framework for understanding how identities combine. We live in parallel worlds. One consists of mountains, beaches, lakes, oceans, farms, deserts, politicians and shepherds watching over their flocks. The other consists of angels and sinister forces, places called Heaven and Hell. As scripture says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together". One night among the hills of Bethlehem those two worlds came together, but the eyewitnesses simply saw a newborn infant struggling to use brand new lungs.
Can you even imagine if those events were to play out in this tumultuous world we are living in today? Think for a moment that you are going about your day and God himself appears to turn your whole world upside down in a way that will astonish, annoy and then amaze you if you choose to see He is doing it out of a love we can never comprehend. While we typically celebrate birth with joy and excitement, the reality of his birth is that it was necessary to fulfill the promise of eternal life brought by his death and resurrection. When the two worlds collided that night in Bethlehem, love was born. As Mary held the infant close, the sound of a hammer rang out in the near future, the sound that would bring him to ultimate suffering for the love of us all. The time is now for us to examine the world we live in and our response to the sacrifice of the cross. Are we living with expectancy this advent season? Are we open to allowing God to show us more? As we approach the celebration of the ChristChild’s birth and the coming of a new year, let’s take a closer look at the responses of those whose lives were upturned by the events that unfolded.
I am thrilled and honored to have collaborated on this devotional with my friend June Somers-Caudill. I hope it blesses you this Christmas Season. ~Jenny
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