Why Christmas Joy?

                                          But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
                                          I wait for God my Savior;
                                          my God will hear me.                                  Micah 7:7

I always love the season of Advent and Christmas.  Advent is a season of reminding us that God acts in concrete ways that really make a difference, and that we should always be waiting, with great expectation, for those tipping-point moments when unusual things can happen. 

People of faith have always waited with that kind of expectation.  According the Bible, the people of old suffered and waited for God to send the Messiah to restore the people, and all creation to God (see Isaiah 11, one of my favorites for this).  Over the years the expectation of a coming Messiah grew so much that many wondered if John the Baptizer might be the Messiah (Luke 3:15).  Indeed, because of this growing expectation, when Jesus appeared, some were ready.  There were a few who were ready to follow him, learn from him, and to be a part of that amazing moment of history when Jesus, the Messiah, would act to bring salvation to the world.  Christmas celebrates that amazing moment in history, when Jesus, the Messiah, was born.  It was a long-expected and long-awaited moment in history:  the moment for the birth of a baby was also the moment for the coming of the Savior.

We are at a different moment in history now.  People are worried about many things, and some still know that watching for signs of God’s actions in the world is the answer.  But for some reason many seem to believe that converting Christmas into a consumerist holiday marks a better spirituality than waiting with expectation.  We live in a world with such overwhelming needs, how did Christmas change from a time of watching for God to a time of self-indulgence?

One of the reasons I so love the Christmas worship services is that it stands in such marked contrast to the emptiness of a consumerist Christmas.  Christmas worship speaks of great mystery.  In the infant, Jesus, the fullness of God entered the world, and entered human society as one of us.  The birth of Jesus was the birth of a real person in history.  By celebrating Christmas we remember what God has done already, AND we also remind ourselves of that God is still active in the world.  In celebrating Christmas, Christians recognize that

·      God really is in relationship with us,

·      God really has a purpose for history

·      God really does take action in history, and among us

·      And God really does call people to become disciples, which means to live with and for God’s purpose right now.

Christmas services of worship, and all Christian services of worship, point people to God by standing in contrast to some of the empty ideas that tend to gain traction among us.  We worship a Savior who came among us in self-sacrificing love, not in self-indulgence.  We worship a Savior who cared about those who suffered from sin and from injustice and from those powers that would bring them down.  Jesus came for the poor, the lost and the downtrodden, and calls us to join him in that ongoing ministry.

I intend to celebrate this Christmas with great joy.  Unto us a Savior is born!  Jesus is not a theological idea, but a real person.  And God is not a convenient idea, but the One who is moving all history toward completion.  And we are not empty vessels with no purpose in the world, but Christ’s followers and imitators, God’s agents, God’s amazingly empowered faith community, participating in God’s work to redeem the world. 

Christmas is a time for worship, because God is at work setting things straight.  In worship we remember that, and we hear the call, once again, to know who we are: God’s chosen!  And then to take action ourselves and join-in on what God is doing in the world.