Christmas means God is With Us

Christmas is in many ways “the most wonderful time of
the year.” It is a time for family, friends, parties, giving,
special services, great music (both religious and secular),
great food. It is also a time to allow the excitement and joy
of children to rub off on each of us. We remember the excitement
of Christmastime from when we were kids. We
didn’t know all the things we know today, and the whole
season seemed magical.
We can have the same sense of wonder and joy as adults
when we consider the wonderful gift we are about to receive.
In the gift of the Baby Jesus, everyone one of us
benefits from the coming of the very presence of God in our
midst. ‘God is with us’ is what Emmanuel actually means.
No matter how dark, no matter how cold, no matter how
alone we may feel, the whole message of the season, the
good news of Christmas is that God chose to come down to
earth and to be with us. In Jesus, God experienced life
through our eyes. Jesus is said in scripture to have experienced
everything in life that we experience. He knows
about temptation. He knows about frustration. He knows
about criticism. He knows about abandonment. He knows
about pain and ridicule. He knows about abuse, both physical
and emotional. Jesus lived his life, just as we live our
lives, only he did not sin.
The whole lesson of Christmas which is filled with joy
and hope is that Christ came in humility, born as a helpless
infant, growing up a boy in a small town, having his bar
mitzvah and working in his father’s carpentry shop until it
became his. Then he helped his mother raise his brothers
and sisters.
The details of the birth are miraculous and wonderful on
so many levels. He was not born under the most ideal circumstances.
Mary had to ride on a donkey about 85 miles
from Nazareth to Bethlehem while 9 months pregnant. She
ended up finding the only place to rest was in a stable, and
wouldn’t you know it, that’s when it was time for her to
deliver her baby. We certainly can’t get the idea that Jesus
had it made, or that he was born in privilege or even in
normal conditions. He was born in a stable: no birthing
room, no hospital bed, no sterile conditions, not even her
own bed. No boiling water, no mother to help her. Perhaps
there was a midwife, but we are never told of such.
No matter how bleak our circumstances, no matter how
rough or difficult our days, Jesus came and identified with
all who suffer rejection, loneliness, exile and inadequate
housing. Jesus, the King of the Universe, the Son of God,
came to earth and was born like a common peasant, a beggar,
born to a homeless family, which quickly became a
refugee family.
On the other hand, despite all these setbacks and deficits
for his beginning, the message of Christmas is extremely
joyful, hopeful and uplifting. God, the creator of
the universe and everything in it, the one who made each
of us perfectly, is also the one who loves us so much that he
came down to earth to be with us. To this day, God is with
us. We are never alone. Through the life, teachings, death
and resurrection of Jesus we were saved from ourselves,
and saved from the worst circumstances of life. We have
been given new life, healing and much hope. We realize
that God has a plan for us, just as he had a plan for Jesus.
God has goals for us to accomplish while we are here on
earth, just as God had goals for Jesus while he was here on
earth.
So as we sing the lovely Christmas carols, as we feast at
some wonderful meals, as we hear the Christmas story told
and retold, as we hold the light of Christ in our hands, let us
remember that Jesus came to give us light and life, joy and
hope, peace and love, redemption and companionship.
Jesus fills our every void and our every emptiness. Jesus is
love embodied. Jesus is the incarnation of the God whom
we love and trust. Jesus is the best news, ever. I hope you
have a very blessed Christmas!