Christmas is a strange thing. By Christmas I mean that first one where Jesus was born in that little town of Bethlehem.
In the Gospel of John the Christmas story reads like this, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory". Definitely not the longest Christmas account (the Gospel of Luke wins that prize), but nonetheless it manages to convey the magnitude of the event: God (aka 'the Word') has taken on human flesh and been born as a child. A pretty big deal. Maybe the two thousand years since have dulled our amazement of this event. Nonetheless, this is amazing stuff here.
In Luke's account we read about the angel who appears to the shepherds in the field with news about the saviour's birth; accompanying this messenger is a multitude of heavenly hosts singing "Glory to God in the highest". Here's a tip for you out there in blogosphere land: if a multitude of heavenly hosts appear singing God's glory, that's usually a tip-off that something huge is going on. And something huge was going on: God was sending the saviour of humanity into the world. God was at work to bring healing and hope to all the broken and the lost. Yeah, a pretty big deal.
Now let's get to that strange thing about Christmas...
... it never hit the headlines! No one really heard about it. It came and passed with only a handful of witnesses who knew what had taken place. I mean seriously, there were more animals present for this event than people. The biggest thing to ever happen in all of human history and no one hears about it. Even if they had, who would care about some bastard Jewish kid born to a teenaged girl in a backwater hick-town on the outskirts of the civilized world... big deal!
Sure, we all know about the child now. In fact, a large portion of humanity worships him. But at the time it was definitely not newsworthy.
I'm convinced that the most important events in life never (or at least seldom) make the headlines. There are people who have come and gone who have changed countless lives, spread the love of God, transformed hearts, and healed lives whose names are all but forgotten. Oh, not forgotten by those whose lives have been transformed, but forgotten by the rest of us (i.e. if we even heard of them in the first place). This gives me hope. As I watch the news and hear about all the terrible things that are taking place this Christmas season around the world I think about this simple truth. I remind myself that God is working. I remind myself that great events are taking place unseen in the lives of broken and hurting people around the world. I remind myself that these events probably will not be on the news, but they are happening nonetheless. This gives me hope.
I still struggle to reconcile the magic of the season that I feel with the suffering that continues around the world during Christmas. This Christmas I will be having a wonderful time with my loved-ones and family. This Christmas many will be all alone with no one to share the season with; many will be experiencing their first Christmas without a loved-one whom they recently lost. This Christmas I will have a stomach full of good food and beer. This Christmas many will be going hungry. It's a hard thing to reconcile sometimes. I don't feel guilty for all that I have - I feel very thankful. But more than that, I feel hopeful. And it is that hope that I celebrate.
In that little town of Bethlehem so long ago, hope was born - the hope of all humanity. This is why I can celebrate this Christmas season.
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