We all know that Christmas is going to be different for 2020, this has been a massive challenge for everyone this year.
But the Christmas message will not change, and those of us who follow Jesus, will still celebrate and remember that the greatest gift to mankind will be glorified this Christmas.
As I’ve gotten older, I feel like some of the wonder has been sapped from Christmas- much the same as I felt back then.
I’m wiser, more jaded, I guess, and honestly, I’ve seen a lot of Christmases come and go that never quite reached my heart.
As an adult, Christmas isn’t filled with magic anymore. It’s full of busyness, of things I should be doing, traditions I want to start but haven’t found time to work on. There are disappointments, expectations, sometimes even family conflict.
I’ve lived enough of them to know what Christmas has in store for me. I know what I’ll be unwrapping under that tree, and it’s not always all that merry or bright.
So this year I am more determined than ever to bring back the Christmas spirit to our household and to those around us too.
In fact our house already as the outside lights up, something I would never have entertained before, but seeing the house light up the cold, dark winter nights reminds me of the night Jesus came into this world to be our eternal light that no darkness can put out.
Perhaps the original Christmas was marked more with agony and grief than with the glitz and glamour of the shopping malls and parades. From His birth in the manger as a homeless baby, until his brutal execution on the Roman cross, Jesus reminds us that God is with us.
That’s what Emmanuel means, “God with us.”
God is with us in the struggle to survive, amid the throes of poverty, in the fight for freedom, in a world full of violence. Jesus’ coming to earth is all about a God who leaves the comfort of heaven, to join the struggle here on earth. God is with us.
Jesus is the “true light” (Jn 1:9), the “Light of the World” (Jn 8:12; 9:5; 12:46), and he was born during the night watch (Lk 2:8), at midnight, when it was pitch black outside, the time when the darkness was the deepest and most intense.
On that first Christmas night, the light shined in the darkness (Jn 1:5a), the glory of the Lord shone (Lk 2:9), the darkness has not overcome it (Jn 1:5b), and it enlightens everyone (Jn 1:9).
So for us as believers in Christ, this Christmas will be the perfect opportunity to bring some light and joy into our families, friends, neighbourhoods.
Yes, these are dark times, so let your light shine so that others will see that you have a different Spirit, a Holy one that will attract the many who are stuck without hope.
Image Credit: Antonín Daněk
