Ah Christmas! Such a season loaded with … tradition … sentiment … nostalgia … expense … music … shopping … overindulgence … grief … guilt … go ahead, fill in the blank. It is loaded with so many things, some cute and charming (think kid’s Christmas concerts) others harsh and difficult (think separated families or debt). I, like many of you, sometimes wonder how we got to this day loaded with so much. Of course, it is, in part, due to the consumer culture in which we live where we are constantly subjected to the power of advertising and, good old peer pressure.
This coming Sunday night, on Christmas Eve, we will hear the ancient story that started all this. It is a story of a couple of peasants caught in an awkward and difficult situation. It includes an overworked innkeeper and some poor, lonely shepherds who had visions on a starry night. Oh, and of course there are angels! The story, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, is really a series of moments – holy moments – when God was realized in ways beyond imagining.
I love the story, as many of you do, for its romance and sentimentality, but every now and then I have to force myself to read it in a stark new way and hear the power of the moments. The moment when a baby’s cry pierced the night and the parents were filled with fear. The moment when humble shepherds realized they were destined for something big. The moment when political pressure was sending fear through the countryside. The moment when poverty and desperation met in a stable come obstetrics ward. The moment when God’s love was birthed in such a way that the whole world changed and history was altered.
There will be moments for you this year. Moments when you blanch when you see your credit card bill, moments when conflict arises at the dinner table, moments when loneliness or grief cramps your heart and tears flow. Hold those moments in the light of the Bethlehem star and know that even in the midst of those difficult and stressful moments there is an opportunity for God to be birthed and for your world to be a cradle for the Holy Spirit.
Christmas Blessings to you and yours.
