A Normal Christmas?

Lately I have been hearing many people talking about having a normal Christmas this year. To be honest, I am not sure what that really means. I think they are talking about their idea of Christmas. The shopping for presents, the traveling to Grandma’s house, gathering together for meals, and the football. Actually, none of that makes for a normal Christmas, at least not if you use that first Christmas as a guide. It was the traveling, the accommodations, and the visit by shepherds that was not normal for Mary and Joseph. I wonder if Mary afterwards thought, “I’m never doing this again.” She, too, was hoping for the normal in her life; getting back to Nazareth and her family. We certainly have chosen a more complex way to celebrate the (mostly) unnoticed birth of Jesus in a back alley of Bethlehem (where else might you find a stable?). In fact a careful reading of Luke and Matthew will show that they did not know much about that first Christmas themselves and what they did know does not agree. What they did agree upon was nothing was normal about that first Christmas. That is why we celebrate it.

When God enters your life you should not expect normal. God has a way with turning everything up-side-down; Making all things new. I might suggest that if your celebration of Christmas is normal, you may not be celebrating it. Christmas is God coming to you, disrupting your plans, and changing your life. It can be nothing else. Jesus came to save those not worthy of salvation. Jesus came so that sinners may become saints. While your Christmas plans may have been drastically changed last year and it looks like they are on course this year, whatever you do make sure you look to see God coming to you in this season in unexpected ways. 

Peace,

Pastor John