Christmas
I am thankful you are here. You are a gift. I am thankful you came. Christmas morning is special. It is a morning like none other. Christmas is a favorite.
There has always been a tranquility about this morning, a peacefulness, a feeling of warmth and of blessing.
But be aware not everybody celebrates Christmas as we do. Not everyone is as blessed.
A hungry child shivered last night in a cold car parked in an alleyway, waiting for a soup kitchen to serve Christmas dinner…later this day.
There is no tree. No presents. No worship. No bathrooms. Not even a shower.
For this family – the annual holiday meal is like a reprieve from “life as usual.” “Thank God our weather has been mild” – is the closest they come to a prayer…spoken or otherwise.
Tomorrow when they awaken it will be back to hunger in their 2-star home-on-wheels.
Others will be wondering how do we pay for everything that we have just charged? Some people charged and borrowed “way” beyond their means just to make Christmas happen…only to receive a termination notice, a pink slip on Tuesday of this week, “now what” is the question. What do we do…where do we go from here?
Some have poor immune systems – challenged by infusions of strong medications – aimed at making them feel better…and stronger.
Others are on the uphill slope – “on the mend” (as it were) and they are feeling a little better and are hoping for brighter days ahead. But face it, for a lot of people every day is a challenge.
Some are mourning…and some find themselves lost and alone for the first Christmas…from now on, everything will be different…very different.
Fire, earthquake, tidal wave, flooding, drought, blizzard, accidents, even tornado’s and El Nino – the timing of tragedy is never kind.
Death always catches humanity unaware. It steals our breath away.
Injuries and minor inconveniences change schedules and temporarily alter lives…including on Christmas morning.
There are those this morning who will feel neglected and un-cared for…and we for our part – need to be mindful of those around us.
Christmas is and always has been about “others.” It is a about caring and sharing. It is about reaching out. It is about embracing and extending yourself to those in need.
Too often Christmas becomes a one day event, rather than “a lifestyle of giving and caring”…we need to be concerned about the plight of others all year long.
If you care about others – one day a year, what is that to you?
What have you learned? What have you taught your children and grandchildren?
I realized that I am forgiven every single day of every single year that I draw life and breath.
I am loved and cared for by my God – every single day of my life. He has promised to be with me always and to never forsake me.
I am redeemed and saved and justified by the Grace and Mercy of my God. I am set free, as it were.
I am cherished and supported. I am lifted up. I am forgiven. All these things are not a one time, one day event…they are on-going and continuous.
Jesus came that we might have life and have life abundantly. I am blessed.
It seems to me – that Christmas “is not Christmas at all,” if it is but a one day event…a one day celebration…or even a twelve day celebration for that matter.
Christmas is so much more.
Jesus came for “others”… he came as servant of all.
It seems to me that if Christmas comes and goes year after year, leaving nothing more than a sweet after-taste in our mouths, so that we can’t wait until it rolls around again…next year … well, that isn’t really what Christmas is all about.
If Christmas is about “God so loving the world that “he gave” his only begotten son…then shouldn’t our giving be continuous – as we are able…as we are capable? Should this celebration be extended and on-going?
Christmas was never meant as an escape from the harshness of living.
Christmas was never meant to be some kind of euphoric cultural drug that titillates our dulled senses – once a year.
No, that is not Christmas all.
Christmas is about caring and sharing and giving and reaching out to others, all year long, because – isn’t that what our God does for us?