Christmas Club Talk

I shared this with our Park Hill Young Life club kids on Wednesday night. Merry Christmas to you.

"I'd love to share with you three real life stories. I was eating at Cracker Barrel with a friend years ago when I looked over and saw a 3 year old boy putting his hand in syrup, then putting his hand on his mom's sleeve. Syrup. Sleeve. Goo.

Just recently, we traveled to Table Rock lake with our friends. We played down by the lake and our friend's two year old Andrew took two steps and sunk in deep, gooey mud. He was covered! From shoes to shirt, he was muddy. His mom, Amanda, stepped right in and scooped him up. She carried him to the house, muddy and all.

In my own life, when Andi was 8 days old she started throwing up after every feeding. She would cover herself and me with baby throw-up mulitple times a day. Smelling like baby puke was the last thing on my mind however because I was so concerned about Andi.

See there's a thing about moms, they are not afraid to get messy. In fact, when you love someone, you are not afraid to enter their mess. More than mom's however, I believe God practices this the best.

Christmas, as I've been thinking about it, is a messy celebration. Christmas is a celebration of God's heart for all of us on earth. Christmas says God does not want to be distant, God does not want to leave us to go it alone. God wants to enter our lives, no matter how messy. Christmas is a celebration of God's presence, entering into the world in the most real ways. On Christmas, we celebrate Jesus- a visible presence of the invisible God, coming to earth.

If you look at the details of Jesus' birth, the characteristics of Christmas, it was all a bit messy. Jesus' birth was messy because:
1. His mom was not married to his dad. In that day, this was severely disgraceful. You could be kicked out of your family or village, lose your friends.
2. It was messy because Jesus' mom and dad were in the middle of traveling when it came time for him to be born and he was born in a smelly, messy, stable.
3. Jesus' visitors were mangey (sp?) old shepherds. Unpopular men who lived on mountain sides with sheep as friends. Not exactly high status visitors.
4. Finally, things were a little politically messy in that day. The reigning king had heard rumors of Jesus and wanted him killed; his life was threatened, even as a tiny baby.

At the very beginning of his life, Jesus made sure everyone knew he was unafraid to enter into any kinds of human messes.
It's an idea to celebrate. We celebrate Christmas in part by singing songs. The same was true at the very beginning. There were three men who sang songs about Jesus' birth that are recorded in the Bible. The words from their songs, while not as catchy as Rudolph, give us a good idea about why we celebrate Jesus' birth.

1st, there was an old priest named Zecheriah. His song is found in Luke 1:78-79. ("Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light...and to guide us in the path of peace".)Secondly, there was a host of angels who appeared to the shepherds and their song is in Luke 2:14.("Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors"). Finally, there was an old man in a church who rejoiced when he heard of Jesus being born and said, in Luke 2:29-32, ("Lord, now I can die in peace...I have seen the Savior...He is a light to reveal God to the nations...").

You see, all of these men were waiting for someone worthy of their hope. Someone who could promise to be present with them in their lives, in good times and bad. They knew, they celebrated, that that person was Jesus.

All three songs talk about light and peace. And what more do we need in the middle of a mess but light and peace?!

I know for my family, every year, Christmas was a great celebration. The lights on our house, our tree, and from candles on the piano were symbols of the joy and peace we felt. This year however, Christmas in my family is a mess. And yet, I can celebrate. I know God will be present. I know God's love is so great that it brings light and peace even into the middle of messy situations. Jesus is still unafraid to enter into messy situations. By Jesus' promise to enter in, I have hope.

So I don't know what Christmas will look like for you this year, whether it will be centered on joy or cornered by a mess- but I hope this year when you see the lights on houses and trees, it reminds you of the light of Jesus, that entered this world with the power and the desire to love and bring peace.

Now I'm going to pray and then we'll go to Taco Bell"

End of club talk. May the God of light and peace bless your celebration.