The Greene Recorder has an occasional “Light for Our Path” column on faith and life written by local pastors. Here’s a column I wrote for the issue following Christmas, December 29, 2021.
Well, we made it through Christmas. How was the holiday for you? Was everything perfect, with heartfelt presents for everyone, mouth-watering traditional foods, and merriment shared by all? Was it just the way you pictured, the “hap-happiest day of the year,” living up to all your nostalgic memories from childhood of Christmases past?
Or, perhaps your holiday wasn’t perfect. Maybe there was a newly empty seat at the table this year. Maybe you couldn’t gather with loved ones at all, due to health concerns, distance, pandemic variants, or even family estrangement. Maybe the food wasn’t quite cooked all the way through, or the dog got sick, or the presents were stuck in a warehouse in California.
Whether your Christmas celebration this year was full of wonderful memories or you’re just happy to be done with the holiday stress, I encourage you today and this week to remember the truth of Christmas: Jesus is born no matter what we do or don’t do.
In the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph were not ready for their baby’s arrival. They were in a strange city, without a place to stay, but Jesus showed up anyway. God works on God’s time, not ours. God shows up no matter how clean our houses are or how pure our hearts are. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to have time to welcome him. He doesn’t wait for us to get our lives all in order, to have everything figured out. Jesus comes to the lonely and bereaved, the joyful and sad, the bored and the busy, young and the old, rich and poor. God’s gift at Christmas is for you.
That’s the good news of Christmas, right? God comes not to the perfect people, but to us, into our broken, messy world. Whether you’ve got it all together today or not, God looks at you in love. Even on your worst days, God refuses to give up on you. Even when the whole world turns against its Creator, even when we put God’s Son to death, God refuses to give up on us.
God accepts us as we are and offers us a fresh start, a new chance at life. And when we mess that one up, God offers us forgiveness and grace and another chance. And another. And again, God refuses to give up. God continues to come to us, to be born into our world.
This week as we welcome in the new year, may you remember the fresh start God gives you and the promise that God’s arms are always open. God’s love is for you. May you know the eternal, infinite love of God revealed in the birth of Jesus Christ, God with us.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Pastor Daniel Flucke, St. Peter Lutheran Church