I looked at the calendar this morning and suddenly it’s December 1st. How did that happen? This time of year has the ability to hijack our lives and turn us into someone we barely recognize. There are school programs and live nativity, Christmas lights and parties with friends, extra food to make and mounds of dishes to wash, and that’s only the next seven days. Have we lost it?
Initially, I believe the answer is, “Yes, we’ve lost our minds”. But I’m not actually talking about that. What I mean is, “I think we’ve lost the power and awe of Christmas”. Every year we hear sermons about it. There might be a few commercials that point it out (if we’re lucky). We truly miss it, I believe.
We just came back from serving Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Virginia for Thanksgiving. This is home to approximately 150 children at any given time. Year after year I leave that place just a little different. It’s sacred; holy even. Life hasn’t been kind to many of these kids. But even those who have walked through life’s darkest valleys have a glimmer of hope in their eyes. It might be easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. But it’s definitely there.
We helped the kids decorate the dining hall for Christmas on Friday. This is part of a tradition for as long as I can remember and honestly one of the sweetest times with them. Even though it’s the graduating seniors who have the honor of decorating it’s easy to imagine them when they were younger; the excitement of memories that accompany each ornament or the train that goes under the tree. But later that day, once the sun has gone down and the little ones come back to the dining hall for supper, I want to capture that awe and somehow take it with me. The twinkling lights. The sound of carols playing. And the look in their eyes. There aren’t even gifts to open yet, but there’s no mistaking. They sense the awe and power. They don’t understand it. But they know its special.
I can’t fully wrap my finite mind around the idea (the fact) that God made a decision to leave his throne in heaven and take on the bodily form of a helpless child (via a virgin teenager). Over and over again in the Old Testament prophets told us exactly how this was going to happen. Only the power of The One True God could do this. Awe is the only appropriate response.
So tonight I’m quietly sitting. The TV is muted. The lights are twinkling. Why would I allow myself to be robbed of the awe and power so perfectly displayed? I won’t skip my granddaughter’s Christmas choir concert and I’ll still celebrate with family and friends. But I’ll be intentional with my time; remind myself WHY I’m doing any of it. It’s all because of JESUS. And if it isn’t because of Jesus, maybe it should be removed from my list (which will free up my calendar). I want to feel what I saw in the eyes of those children. I want to rediscover the power and awe.
Luke 2:16 ~ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.