Happy New Year, Everyone.
It's the last weekend of Christmas break, and we've been busy taking down our Christmas tree. Funny how empty the living room looks when the tree is gone the way of the compost heap. The space we didn't think we could find in November looks awfully vacuous in January. Still, I'm kind of glad that the tree is gone and the ornaments are back in their boxes. Last year, I felt like I couldn't possibly get enough Christmas. This year, I am ready to move on.
And yet, as I was winding up the extension cord, I felt a moment of regret. There's something encouraging about a house that keeps the light burning all winter long. We need peace on earth and good will to all men in the middle of February as much as we do in December. Where should we find that Christmas hope once all the decorations have come down?
For the Christian, that's a silly question. Our hope doesn't change once Jesus leaves the manger. If anything, it gets more solid. A baby with an angel introduction is a good beginning, but unless Jesus goes on to secure our hope with his perfect obedience, his divine consciousness, his willing death, and his resurrection, then there would be no point to Christmas. On the other hand, if he'd never come to be with us, there would be no hope at all.
In the meme mind of the western world, Christmas has a magical reputation. Stretching back to the Middle Ages, the Christmas season has boasted stories of animals talking, of fortunes reversed, of dead plants blooming and feasts appearing in the wilderness. On this one night, the power and grace of God move freely among desperate humanity again and remind them that they are loved. Now, to mention Christmas in a story has become a synonym for evoking the name of Christ himself. Christmas Past, Present, and Future restored humanity to Ebenezer Scrooge. If movies are any indication, we believe that Christmas can bring peace in warring communities, reverse downward spirals, cure misers and alcoholics, and save marriages. The presence of Christ has left such a hallowed touch on this day that even the secular world can't shake the idea that there is power there. Real life stories like the Christmas Truce of 1914 keep us hoping that there is a divine power that can reach down in to our mess and keep us from destroying each other. Brief flashes of Christmas light illumine our otherwise dark lives and make us hope for a brighter future, believe in the power of redemption, and remember that we love each other.
As far as reminders go, Christmas is a good one, but it's only the starting place. The presence of God didn't vanish when the angels went back into heaven. Baby Jesus got a lot bigger, a lot more articulate, and to be honest, a lot more demanding. What was whispered around a sleeping baby (we may assume) was preached from hill tops and proclaimed in council rooms and courts of justice. Not only has God come, but He has no intention of leaving. The Kingdom of God is near; the Spirit of God is with His people. Immanuel is not just a word of Christmas joy. It is also a challenge. God is with us, and we are with God. What are we going to do now?
Maybe the difference is the weather (we have snow and sunshine, 32*F), or maybe I'm just eager to leave 2020 behind, but this year, something seems to say, "Move forward. Don't rest here. I have work for you out in the wider world." So, one by one, the ornaments are getting packed up. The greenery is being swept up. The lights are being wound around old pieces of cardboard. Christmas is over. The wisemen are coming tomorrow. Herod might be on his way thereafter. We need to gird up our loins and have the donkey saddled. God has work for us to do.
Mary and Joseph weren't allowed to stop at Christmas. They had the infallible promise of the Kingdom, as evidenced by the baby in their arms, but they also had their part to play in its coming. They had to go to Egypt. They had to raise the Christ and keep him safe. They had to be both parent and worshipper.
That can't have been an easy job. In fact we see them fail at it more than once. But their job is what we have to do too. We have the Kingdom of God in our hands in our children, our spouses, our friends, our neighbors, our students, our coworkers, and our government officials. The promise that we receive with that is infallible. The Kingdom has already come, and there is nothing that can stop God from bringing it. But we have some big work ahead of us. Really, the work has never been other than big. This is a cosmic Kingdom that we're talking about. And it's not the power of Christmas that pushes us forward. It's the power of Easter, God not only with us but God refusing to go away.
2021 is not going to be an easy year. Quite apart from the normal challenges of life, we have the fallout of 2020 to deal with. Nothing is going to be the same going forward. That's how life is. Think about it: we have all had personal challenges that toss life over, flip the table so to speak. After the death of a loved one, a battle with cancer, recognition of an addiction or countless other struggles, life is never the same again. That individual example of humanity has to move forward in a new reality, and God gives them the grace to do it. Now, with 2020 in the books, most of the world's population is moving forward into a new reality all at once, and God will give us the grace to do it too. The promise is already given and sealed. It has been sealed with nothing less precious than the blood of the Son of God and Man and the Spirit of God. And the work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.
Lift up your heads, my friends. The Light has dawned upon us, and the way ahead is cleared for us, even if it isn't very easy to see. In the coming days, it may be necessary to lower our shoulder to our heavy load, but we should never lower our eyes from the Risen Christ. The Spirit of God is with us in the trenches, but the Son of Man is at the right hand of the Father, and nothing can remove Him from that place. This means that nothing can remove us from that place either because we are in the palm of His hand. So whatever you are facing or fearing this coming year, new concerns or old, face them in the light of the Risen Jesus.
