Christmas is the season when I dare to dream that everything will be made right, when glory to God in the highest and peace on earth for all will finally come true. On Christmas day I may be hoping for a sweater and some books but I’ll trade everything on my wish list for just one day of Christmas peace. I’ll listen to Julie’s Kenny Rogers’ Christmas album if it will mean just one day of quiet calm, of Christmas joy. One day when everything is perfect.
We think of Christmas as a time to come home, a time to set everything right. We see it as a time of year when everything that has been turned upside down will be turned right side up. Christmas is the season when we wish for all to be well. It is a time when we hope the cookies will be warm, the milk cold, the kids nice and polite, and all is well in our comfortable homes.
Then before we know it, the day is over. The trash can is full of torn wrapping paper. A toy has already been broken and the tree is beginning to look pretty sad. We sit down in front of the mess that was Christmas and we ask out loud, “Is this all there is? Isn’t there more? There has just got to be more.”
The question, “Is this all there is, isn’t there more?” is the work of Sunday morning. That is the work we bring to this sanctuary. That is the question, if we are doing the work of God that every one of us knows is at the heart of our lives. There has got to be more.
When Mary learned she was pregnant with baby Jesus, she proclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has scattered the proud, put down the mighty and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry, and the rich he has sent empty away.” A new way of living has been ushered in.
The song of Mary was in the past tense. “God has shown strength, has scat tered the proud, has filled the hungry, and has sent the rich away empty.”
This work is ongoing. God is already here doing something new with the world. This year for Christmas dare to dream with God. Ask God to do something amazing in your life. Dream of going home to a life that matters.
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
