“Christmas is ... much more about doing what needs to be done, and being grateful for the chance to do it.”
Christmas, the tv tells us, is a time for family and friends. It's a time to get together and share all the things that make life good (eggnog and shortbread top that particular list) with each other. But what do you do when you aren't near family and friends anymore?
This past fall we moved. I resigned from the Church I was working with and we moved to a new province (new to us, I understand that Nova Scotia has actually been around for a while now), new schools and new work. Family and friends are left behind and now here we sit, surrounded by bleak, stark strangeness and isolation.
Well, okay, maybe it's not that bad, but it's definitely harder to do all that "Christmas stuff" when you are in a new place surrounded by strangers. That brings me to the actual topic for this Christmas: Jesus moved just at Christmas time, too.
Now, I know that is rather obvious, but again, consider what that meant to Him. He left the perfect place to go to a bleak and cold land. A place where people would be hostile to Him. A place where He lost all the privilege that He had lived with for all eternity. He went from Glory to poverty. He went from all the comforts of home, to cramped corners in a stable.
Jesus left it all for us. He moved to this world so that we could move to His. And He did it willingly. You don't read anywhere about Jesus griping about having to be here. You don't see Him complaining to God about it or trying to get out of it after He got here. In fact, we see that Jesus thanks God for allowing Him to die on the Cross for us. He thanks God for the bread that He ate and the fish that He cooked. He tells the Apostles that as they travel, they are to put their blessing on the places that they stay and not to wander about seeking a better, more comfortable place.
Christmas is about family and friends in a way. But it's much more about doing what needs to be done, and being grateful for the chance to do it.
This Christmas, as you roam the malls seeking what you might purchase, take a moment and look about through the eyes of Jesus. See the people who are lonely and hurting. Look at the stress that rips people apart. Watch the fighting over sale items and parking spaces. Look and see, then act. Reach into the lives of people around you and make a difference.
Remind people that God loves them so much that He came here to set them free. Maybe stop and give someone your parking spot, your place in line, your hand. Give people some of the love that God gives to you.
Merry Christmas!
My buddy Geoff serves with the Hammond Plains Christian Church in Nova Scotia, Canada.