As I pen this note to you it is December 18th. My assumption is that many of us are heading into the final countdown for the big event, Christmas. My concern is that for too many, Christmas is seen as an event to be prepared for and to recover from rather than as the definitive, transformative moment for all human history. Does that seem like too bold a statement? Is it wrong to understand the in breaking of the enfleshed God in human history as the source of all we claim to be as Christians? What difference does it make that Emmanuel, “God with Us,” has come to be with us?

What difference does it make to the parents who are stressed out by trying to create the idealized media-driven version of Christmas? What difference does it make to the one who is spending their first Christmas without their spouse? What difference does it make to you? If God’s appearance to humankind is making a difference, how can you show it to others? What are you intending to convey when you wish someone “Merry Christmas”? “But the angel said to them, ‘do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2: 10-11) The angel told the shepherds “Merry Christmas.” Well, actually, he said, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people,” but Merry Christmas is shorthand for that.

The angel’s message isn’t about fun, but about the deep-down merriment that comes from God – the awareness that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, the knowledge that everything doesn’t have to happen now, and the confidence that our lives are in the hands of a personal God who can be trusted to bring about the ultimate best for us.

Merry Christmas,

Cole