Merry Christmas!!!
It’s that time of year again! For those of you in Colorado, snow is falling, twinkle lights are shimmering, and Christmas music is perpetually playing everywhere you go. Occasionally your heart will skip a beat, or your breath will be taken away by something truly special. For me it was always the lights, the fun Christmas parties, and the quality time with people that evoked those good ol’ feelings of “Christmas cheer.” However, it was the candle light Christmas Eve service at church that always rendered me breathlessly in awe of the birth of Christ. Every year in the dim light I would reflect on how Jesus was born into our world. In the midst of commercialism and chaos I would refocus on Jesus. I love how Linus does this in “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown:”
Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone, who knows what Christmas is all about?!
Linus: Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights please?
And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men.
That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
Ahhh yes the comforting part of the story; it’s my favorite part by far! I never fail to find peace in that message. It is the most beautiful news we have ever received. Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us” came to save us. I really believe that, and I’m also starting to absorb more of the magnitude of that occasion. It wasn’t by accident that Jesus was born where he was. God had a plan for redemption, but redemption came in a very unexpected way. It came through suffering, but ends in complete restoration.
This year I’ve found more resonance in the uncomfortable circumstances Christ was born into. I still find peace in my comfy image of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus snuggled up together while shepherds and magi come to worship, but this year something new started to stir in my heart. I began to be truly mystified by the miracle of the incarnation. Jesus came as fully man and fully God. I can never wrap my head around that! Jesus entered the world as a baby and shared in our uncomfortable human existence.
Maybe it’s just because it’s Christmas, but recently I’ve become more aware of just how uncomfortable I am here in Bangkok. I may have moments when I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, but then the very next minute I find myself daydreaming about home. I find myself missing my family and mourning the fact that everyone else’s lives are moving on without me. I even discovered that I had never realized how precious Christmas was to me before. I took it for granted. Deep down I long to be home, but even deeper down I’ve found that I desire familiarity. It’s hard to live in constant friction. Things that once took me a couple minutes now take me all day. My daily agenda may look slim, but it takes all my effort to stay awake because I’m constantly exhausted. My mind struggles to cram in more language, or understand very simple social expectations. My emotions run high, and I constantly feel like a child being pushed around. To put it simply, this is hard and it doesn’t look like what I expected!
But there is hope in God’s promises, and He has promised that I will be redeemed with Christ!
Over the past three months God has been teaching me that redemption is in His hands, not mine. Take the birth of Jesus for instance. The Jews expected the messiah to come in majesty in order to overthrow Rome and bring glory. Instead humanity is given a little baby in a stable. The son of God is entrusted to a young girl who isn’t even married. The situation looks bad at face value. Didn’t Jesus deserve every comfort known to man? It just doesn’t seem to add up right.
But Jesus had to be fully man, and every person is born into a fallen and broken world. We all come from broken families and imperfect situations. Jesus had to share in this friction as well because it’s part of the human experience. He was born into social and political oppression. He lived a fully human existence, yet lived through it completely sinless. Jesus had to endure the mundane uncomfortable realities of life. Further down the road, Jesus had to be crucified with the weight of all sin on his shoulders in order to fulfill the purpose of his birth. Redemption was never about taking the easy way out. God is fully engaged with us, even to the point of joining with us in our sufferings.
God is calling me to engage in the things I find uncomfortable because that is where He is redeeming me. If I allow myself to constantly check-out and daydream, then what am I missing out on in the reality that surrounds me? If I don’t fully engage with the people God puts in my path, then blessings have no room to flourish. If I dwell on missing my family or constantly mourn the fact that my friend’s lives are changing without me, then I fail to see how God is changing lives here. God has given me dear friendships here in Thailand, but if I hold back on them then I hold back God’s invitation for me to take refuge in the body of Christ. He is inviting me to so much; my only job is to be available to it.
We are all in a constant state of redemption. This is true whether you live in Thailand, the US, or anywhere else. We all avoid fully engaging in the uncomfortable situations God is calling us to endure for His sake. We are guilty, but Christ did something about that. He entered the world as a helpless baby, suffered death to pay atonement for our guilt, and promised to never leave us.
That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown! =)