It's early Christmas morning. It's still dark and no other creatures (or kids) are stirring at our house and in four or five years here I've never seen a mouse. Like many of you, I participated in and enjoyed two Christmas Eve services. I heard, sang and thought again about the story that's always the same and yet doesn't have to be.
I was reminded that what can be different and change us is how we react to the Christmas story and its second act, Easter, the essential companion "gift." Easter, is the completion of God's plan for those who would put their trust in Him. Without both days, the hopes and fears of all the years wouldn't ultimately be overcome.
So today, I would guess that most of us have hopes and fears we face in our homes, relationships, challenges, struggles, unknowns losses or pain.? Maybe for some, this year is the fulfillment of long hoped-for victories or situations overcome. Good for you. Embrace those and be thankful to God this Christmas for his provision and answers.
But if you're up against the fears as much if not more than the hopes, there's also good news. No, you don't need to all of a sudden feel merry and bright. But you also don't need to be overcome today and the next day by panic, anxiety and even terror because of things that tend to keep you up at night and have your mind whirling.
Two words found several times in the various Christmas story renderings are, "Fear not" or in more modern terms, "Don't be afraid." In fact, when the angels startled the shepherds in the field to announce Christ's birth, these caretakers of the sheep WERE afraid. But quickly the angels calmed those fears and can do the same with ours.
You see, we're not alone. Christmas and Easter still affirm that there's hope. Jesus came to earth that first Christmas after 400 years of God being silent with his people. We too may hate the silence that we've felt or experienced of late, but Christmas and Easter have come and God is silent no more. There's hope.
No, hope doesn't mean all the hurt, disappointment and unmet goals will vanish. Hope means that God has shown up and will keep showing up in the middle of our tough times. He's in control even if we feel like we're not.
For the next 30+ years after Christmas, Jesus was on earth, showing up to people who needed Him. After He left the earth, God's Holy Spirit came to literally reside in His followers, to give guidance, wisdom and strength to face the good and bad of life. He's still showing up for you and me. He's here. That's why we can view today, even if it's a hard day, from a new perspective.
When our hopes and fears are met in Jesus, instead of cursing our darkness, we can light a candle so to speak. How? Well, by committing to choose that the hopes and fears of all the years were met in Jesus 2000+ years ago and are still met in Him today. What might that mean?
We can still be thankful for every moment with get with people we love.
We can enjoy every gift, wrapped in paper or just wrapped in presence.
We can embrace the laughter and loudness along with the silence to follow.
We can rest in God's ability to both redeem and overcome anything.
We can still think, even grieve through our pain, that the baby we celebrate today became a man and our Savior. He knew more pain than we'll ever experience and yet cares about ours, too. We don't have to fear our hurt, the unknown or the confusing.
We can still live, we're not paralyzed, even though moving forward is hard right now.
And we can commit to not letting fear win any day this coming year. Not only did the angel tell Mary, "Do not be afraid," (Luke 2:30) but later said, "Nothing is impossible with God."
Yes, a baby can be born to a virgin mother and one day die for the world and rise again. Same stories every year. But those stories changed everything. And they still meet head on all the hopes and fears of all our years.
Merry Christmas and Happy Easter
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