Every Christmas After
[bl]T[/bl]he very first Christmas was Jesus being born unto the world. Every Christmas after, is Jesus being born in us.
As we anticipate and wait in these Advent days, we are preparing for his birth – not only in a manger, but in hearts and homes. Jesus being born into our sin. Jesus, being born into our brokenness. Jesus being born into our relationships. Jesus being born into the work of our hands, the words of our mouth.
This is no ordinary birth. It’s not the kind that mark’s first breath. It’s the kind that brings forth new life.
What does it look like for God’s life to be born in us?
It’s vulnerable, humbling. And it’s only done through grace. But to welcome Christmas, to prepare for the coming of Jesus, you must receive him into your life. Particularly, your sin. Sin was the reason for his coming. The broken reality that caused need for a savior. It’s the part of Christmas we’re less likely to talk about. It’s easier to celebrate the birth of a baby than it is to recognize the sin he came to redeem.
But this is Christmas: Welcoming God into your broken world.
Suddenly the shopping seems pointless. The Christmas decorations, unnecessary. The man in a red suit, confusing. What do they have to do with Christmas other than years of cultural tradition and consumer hype?
But our family still participates. With less excitement and commitment than prior years, we will purchase gifts, decorate our tree and hang stockings to be filled by the jolly soul. We really love this holiday and embrace this season with so much joy.
But we refuse to let these activities distract us from the real movement of Christmas. We reject the enemy’s successful attempt to make a smoke screen out of the Christmas consumer culture, masking the divine moment that deserves our entire attention.
And so we find our hearts turning. Turning from what our flesh desires, and looking to what our Lord is giving us. An opportunity to celebrate his miraculous dwelling in man. The God who formed mankind, entered this world through mankind.
This is worthy of praise. Sacrifice. Commitment. Celebration. And it doesn’t begin with tensile and lights.
Christmas begins with openness. An honest dialogue between you and God. Prayer.
Christmas begins with confession. Identifying the sin that hinders his conception of life in you.
Christmas begins with repentance. Recognizing and grieving how your sin has prevented you from faithfully engaging God and your community.
Christmas begins with humility. Submission to the ways of God. A laying down of your life, so his can be born in you.
Christmas begins with receiving. A heart willing to welcome Jesus and his redemptive reality. His light that pierces your darkness. His truth that gives you hope.
Christmas begins with giving. The giving of your recourses to participate in God’s redemptive work. For in this kind of giving, God’s life is born in others through you.
Christmas begins with sacrifice. Denying the things that feed your flesh during this season, in order that your spirit might awaken to the moment when eternity became its hope.
Through these divine opportunities true celebration will emerge. God’s life will conceive in you. Authentic Christmas will be born.
May God’s grace cover us as we wrestle with these ideas. May his truth lead us as we discern how to faithfully celebrate and welcome him among the boughs of holly and brown paper packages tied up with string.
