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I love Christmas. Ok, ok, maybe you think I've been watching too much television or that the incessant holiday zeal of the profiteering marketers has gotten to me, but I like Christmas because it reminds me of biblical truth. Which is really sort of the point, isn’t it?
Do you remember the excitement you felt about Christmas as a kid? It was, as one classic holiday movie puts it, the event around which the entire “kid year” revolved.
As a child I devised all kinds of ways to count down the days to Christmas. One year, I had a Santa Claus calendar where you could glue a cotton ball to Santa's beard for every day that passed; by Christmas Day, Santa had a full beard. Another year I made paper chains and I tore off a link for every day that passed. And of course, there was always the verbal count. I drove my mother crazy with that one. Every morning I would triumphantly announce the number of days remaining until the holiday, and my poor mother would groan and shake her head, thinking of all that was still to be done.
I still love Christmas. The sights, the sounds, the traditions, the time spent treasuring family relations and meditating on the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord – it is a wonderful time of year. I always think it is a shame when we allow the commercialization of the holidays to steal our joy. We should enjoy going to a production of The Nutcracker, gazing at a beautifully lit Christmas tree in the dark, or admiring a lovely table setting and centerpiece. We can thank God for the beauty and creativity that still exist in this world, despite the sin that has tainted it.
As Christians our lives are a bit like Christmastime. It is a season of fervent anticipation of coming glory. It has an "already and not yet" quality to it. Trees are up, lights sparkle, it is Christmastime, but not yet Christmas. In the same way, Christians live in anticipation of future joy, yet we are already partakers in that joy.
But the glitter and glamour of the season is only a dim picture of what our heavenly home will be like. Unlike Christmas day, which flies so quickly away leaving behind it tired and disappointed people, there will be no end to the beauty and celebration when we are received into our future glory. There will be nothing missing and nothing broken, no disappointments, guilt, or rejection. There is no Island of Misfit Toys in heaven, because we will all be made perfect and whole, with nothing disjointed or crooked in us.
How strange and wondrous it is that in order for us to take part in the glory and joy of heaven, Christ had to endure humiliation and suffering. He is the one who felt our brokenness and rejection fully, yet we are the ones treated as perfect and beloved children of the King. We get what Christ deserves and Christ got what we deserved, and He did this out of love for His Father and love for His bride, the church.
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:4-5).
The punishment that brought us peace – what an incomprehensibly beautiful phrase. The irony and counterpoint give the mind much to meditate on, the sheer selflessness of that kind of love brings tears to the eye. How often I forget the beauty of my salvation.
I wish that I had more of my childish eagerness back, only for the coming of the Lord. I am waiting for the penultimate event of all time. For utopia! For rest! To see the Savior's face! And how much greater will He be than any shadowy holiday, for “he will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4).
My prayer is that I will meditate more and more on the joy of my salvation, and that the celebration of Christmas would not be a distraction from that, but would provide new depth to those thoughts. May Christ’s bride have a daily consciousness of her coming joy and glory. Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas and a season of anticipation that lasts far past December 25th.
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