Something about the holidays makes me lonely. Maybe it's all the emphasis placed on togetherness and spending time as a family. Maybe it's just a time that you would make special with a significant other, so conspicuously missing from my life. Maybe I miss my father too much as we spend the holidays with his family. Whatever the reasons, ironically enough, I am not alone in my loneliness. A corporate coffee shop is currently running the slogan, “Holidays are best shared” which adds insult to injury for those who are alone. A friend of mine was just telling me about how she spent last Christmas alone because her family wasn't speaking to her.
It's really no wonder that some people hate Christmas, because it has always held bad memories and feelings of despair and loneliness. Ebeneezer Scrooge was a workaholic but, if the Muppets version is any indication, there was an element of unrequited love that led to his bitterness towards the holiday. Whatever the reason for their pain, there are millions of people hurting and lonely this holiday season and these are the very people that Christmas is for.
Why do we, as Christians celebrate Christmas? It's a commemoration of the birth of Christ. The image of the Invisible God, the Word made flesh. Matthew 1:23, in describing the “first Christmas” says, “ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” We are celebrating that God is now with us. We the lonely no longer have a reason to feel lonely because the very Creator of the universe has condescended to appear in human form, lived a perfect life for us that we could not, died the death we deserved so we might live with Him forever, tore curtain and removed the space between God who sits on the throne above with the risen Christ at His right hand interceding for us as a mediator who is able to sympathize with our human weakness. God is with us every minute as the power that raised Christ from the dead, the Holy Spirit, dwells and quickens our mortal bodies.
This is not to say there is no reason to be lonely, the Bible is very clear that it is not good to be alone and our families and relationships are given us by God to comfort and strengthen us, but this is not always the case. What I am saying is that we have reasons to rejoice and can seek comfort in the loving arms of the only Person who will never leave us, forsake us, fail us, hurt us except for our own good, who will grow us, strengthen us, comfort us, and, in the end, glorify us.
We can stand this Christmas and say with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” celebrating the fact that we will never be alone again because our Immanuel has come, God is with us. If you don't know this love, what better time is there?
No comments:
Post a Comment