Waiting

Advent is a time of waiting

December is a month of waiting

When we are young – and for some of us that is a few more years ago than we care to remember – December often feels like the longest month of the year. The excitement of what is to happen at Christmas excitement that is heightened with the arrival of decorations and special displays in the shops, decorations and lights in the street. Then the big day is here and the excitement and the early morning present opening and then it’s all over for another year and Christmas can be put away again in the box with the decorations and the tree.

As we get on in years perhaps December becomes a month of stress and worry and if you work in the retails sector you will have had you fill of Christmas by the end of November.  December becomes a time when we reflect on the pass and especially call to mind the special times in our lives.  The good times and the sad, loved ones no longer with us, friendships broken, Christmases full of joy and warmth the past often looks better in remembrance than it really was.  Then it’s all over and we can put it away in the box with the decorations and the tree.

How often is our relationship with God like December? 

What do I mean, well we often turn to God when we are in trouble and the world around is against us.  We pray when we need something, help with a situation, comfort when a member of the family is ill or has problems.  We pray almost without thinking when we see disasters on the TV or hear of child abuse or similar.

Then when all is well in our world we pack God away in a box with all the trimmings of religion to await being brought out again when we have a need.

Advent is a time of waiting, a time of reflecting on the past, on the present and looking in hope to the future to that which is to come.

But what are we waiting for, a God that we can pack away with the decorations.  A God seen as a defenceless baby innocent, helpless, ineffectual, how much to we long to keep him as a helpless babe.

No Christmas is about a breaking in, a change, an eruption of love that will be heard and felt for ever. 

God in Jesus is not here as a helpless babe or innocent child but a power that has the ability to change people’s lives, to change those who would deny God to those who would become his greatest messengers.  God in Jesus is a love that turns our lives upside down.  Those he met where never the same again, those he continues to touch are changed and will never be the same.  What happen all those years ago can not be packed away with the decorations. It is our there and continues to change the world, changing you and me and those we love and those we come into contact with.

I saw a car sticker once that that made we smile.  We are all familiar with the sicker that proclaims:-

“A dog is not just for Christmas but for life”

Well the one that made me smile and say “Yes” was:-

“Jesus is not just for Christmas but for life”

We take the babe Jesus out of the box with his crib at the beginning of December and pack him away in early January or perhaps before.

Jesus is not just for Christmas but for the rest of our lives, he and the love and grace that sent him is the best gift that anyone can receive and for those of us who have received it is the best gift that we can talk about and allow other s to accept.

What will you give to those you love this Christmas?

What should we all give to those that we are called to love this Christmas but find it difficult to love?

My granddaughter is 14 months old and this will be the first Christmas she will understand what it means to open carefully wrapped gifts with gusto, only wanting to see what is inside,  I expect, like most children some of the toys will have a limited life, some may become lifetime friends.

The gift of Jesus to the world is very much a gift that can become a lifetime friend, perhaps even a life changing friend.

So when you come to put away you Christmas decorations remember not to pack away God with them and perhaps remember:-

Jesus is not just for Christmas but for life.