In today’s culture, two different Christmases are being celebrated. One has Jesus at the heart and as the heart of everything. The other consists of a mad and frustrated searching for that ever-elusive ‘heart.’ The first Christmas, sated with its ‘knowing,’ can delight in the many ways the ‘arrival’ is acknowledged, from its recognition in the form of a national holiday, to the commercial sector’s blitz of decorations, sales, parades, and music. That’s not including the many neighborhoods lighting up evenings in artful, multi-colored enchantment. The Second Christmas, caught up in much of the above, is stressed out, maxed out, cynical, irritable, often heard muttering: ‘I can’t wait for this to be over!’
We in the first Christmas group face the challenge of being in all this while not allowing ourselves to be blown off course by it. I think we want to be those who focus on celebrating this Advent Season reminding ourselves Who it is we are welcoming. King Jesus. Author and Finisher of our Salvation – Our Salvation! The Beginning and the End. The Gifter of His own Joy into our shrunken, joy-deprived hearts. Bonkers, right? But, whether or not we ‘get it,’ the truth stands. We have so much to celebrate. During this third week of Advent, with the focus on Joy, let’s take time to ask the Lord to expand our hearts with this glorious reality. And while we’re at it, let’s ask him to show us what’s been dampening our joy, what‘s been intruding, stifling this incredible gift from full expression, from overflowing as it did from Elizabeth, Mary and Zechariah. When we do, he’ll show us and we’ll discover all the First Christmas strength needed to wade into the thick of the frayed-nerve crowds and be the joy they’re searching for. PD
