By: Carl Ellis On 12/8/2011
Topics: Spiritual Renewal
Black Friday, what has become the opening bell for Christmas, has come and gone, and we are sprinting toward Christmas Day hoping we can get everything done. We jam our calendars full of programs, extra worship services, parties, Christmas cards, gifts and family get-togethers, all of which does not include our normal work-week and activities.
At the end of the day, success may be defined as, “I completed all the ‘to do’ items on my Christmas list” or “All my children and grandchildren were happy with their gifts” or “I made 10 parties, three special worship services, and four family gatherings, and I lived to tell about them.”
On Dec. 25, we sigh and give thanks that Christmas fell on Sunday this year because Monday is a legal holiday, and we have a day to rest up from our “rushing to Christmas.” I really believe that rushing to Christmas makes it impossible to “experience Christmas.”
Long ago shepherds were watching their flocks when angels appeared! The shepherds experienced the first Christmas because they stopped what they were doing, went to the manger, and saw baby Jesus. Success was not determined by checking off all the “to do” items, buying the perfect gift or making every party and family gathering. Success was experiencing “God with us.” I am an eternal optimist, and I still believe that we can experience Christmas, God with us.
To experience Christmas this year, we might want to take a moment to stop what we are doing and lift up our prayers to God, listen to or sing Christmas carols, turn off the cell phone (or leave the cell phone at home), and attend Sunday worship and Christmas Eve worship. Or maybe take outrageous amounts of time to turn off all the lights but those on the Christmas tree and a light on the manger and re-live the joy of Jesus birth. More importantly, take time to give thanks for the greatest gift of all, a God that chooses to be with us even when He is lost underneath the rush of a season in His honor.
After the presents are unwrapped, the Christmas tree and manger put away, the family has gone home, the wallet is empty, and New Years day celebrated, God is still with us. God does not disappear into storage like the ornaments and the manger. God is always present and always reaching out to us with love and grace. And so the question remains, this year will we choose to experience Christmas, God with us?