Social Distance Christmas
“The scholars entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.
Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.””
This certianly is a strange December!
There are usually so many fun, celebratory traditions surrounding Christmas that we treasure (and many are staying creative in how to celebrate).
But this year, our regulations can create a felt-loss that keeps us from celebrating the way we would like to, that way that usually leads to thankfulness and a recongition of God's special presence during Christmas.
It’s healthy for us to recognize those areas of loss as well as engage with our God who births his own Life into our seasons.
Just like the carol, Sweet Little Jesus Boy, we can often miss the covert ways that God invades our everyday struggles. When we miss noticing God’s involvement in our struggles, then we can miss opportunities to connect with the One who can use those very situations to shape, change and heal us.
“Sweet little Jesus boy
They made you be born in a manger
Sweet boy little holy child
We didn’t know who you were
Didn’t know you’d come to save us Lord
To take our sins away
Our eyes were blind, we could not see
We didn’t know who you were.”
Like the above lyrics, we rarely see Jesus when He arrives in the midst of struggle, and often it’s only when we look back that we realize, “We didn’t know who You were.”
Take a moment and consider:
What areas are you noticing this felt-loss?
What is unusual about this season for you?
What are you missing from years past?
What would it look like to begin to notice Jesus in the midst of your unusual circumstances?
DID YOU KNOW THAT JESUS
WAS BORN INTO A TIME OF TENSION TOO?
Jesus’s own birth was amidst a great slaughter of children, as King Herod attempted to murder the coming King of the Jews. Talk about political strife and division! Joseph and Mary listened to the Lord and escaped Herod's evil (though many families didn't escape this loss).
Joseph recognized God's voice in his dream, and they fled to Egypt.
But this narrow escape led to Jesus and his family being displaced and distanced from their people, their home, their places of worship.
Forced to flee, they lived among the Egyptians, in an uncomfortable, unfamiliar and unusual context. Jesus's first few years were among foreign people, apart from family, and apart from familiarity.
Uncertainty marked the childhood years of Jesus's life. Not only was he born into poverty, recognized only by insignificant shepherds, but his family was forced to live for years in uncomfortability and uncertainty, not knowing how far Herod's reach could go.
All Joseph and Mary had to rely for years was the angel's greeting and two dreams.
The only comforts and certainties they had were the words God had spoken to them years earlier.
Can you relate to being displaced, distanced from family, friends, community, places of worship, all that was safe and familiar?
What has God done in the past that you need to remember?
Are there important parts of your story with God that would be helpful to recall and rely on in this season?
Joseph and Mary didn't understand the whole picture. Joseph would pass away before his son began his ministry. Mary wouldn't even grasp the whole, powerful story of her virgin conception for over 30 years.
Yet even in the midst of great trial, fear, possible slander, and a story unfinished, somehow, "Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart," (Luke 2:19). You can hear the deep capacity she had to listen to God, even in the midst of great uncertainty.
““Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
You can hear the deep capacity she had to listen to God, even in the midst of great uncertainty.”
We're facing times where we're distanced from one another, living under social or political unrest (isn't nice our "King" isn't out to kill us!), and separate from our familiar places of worship and tradition.
Things will look different, but this doesn't change God's word (the Scriptures) and it doesn't change who He is for you and your life.
WE INVITE YOU:
Take a monent and pay attention to a few of these uncertainties you’re facing, and compare them to the ones that Jesus Himself faced as the Son of God.
Since Jesus went through something similar, what does that mean for you?
And, like Mary and Joseph, in your prayerful conversation with God, begin a dialogue about what seems uncertain and fearful and place those things into His hands.
If it’s helpful, hold your fist out before God, symbolizing the uncertainties you’re carrying, then when your ready, open your fist—maybe just one finger at a time—letting these things rest in God’s hands too.
Ask Him what He wants to speak into these uncertainties…
What would it mean to invite Him into your situation?
Use the honest moment to rest-into to God’s presence, His faithfulness, His closeness, His care for you.
