This is an article I submitted to our local newspaper for the first week of December.
A little while back I was visiting with my Grandma and we talked a little about where God was in the midst of difficulties and suffering. She told me she has lots of questions. She told me that she misses Grandpa and was ready to go see him anytime. I choked up a bit and said, “I know you are Grandma. I know you are.” It’s been over 12 years since Grandpa died suddenly, and it still hurts. Grandma still really, really misses him.
Some of you reading this understand this situation all too well. When tragedy happens we grieve and mourn and then life marches on, whether we want it to or not. The holiday season can hit us especially hard in this sense. It’s the empty chair, or the memories of what once was, or the reminder of what could’ve been. It can seem that the world is happy and everyone else is celebrating. What do we do with feelings of sadness during “the most wonderful time of the year?”
It can be easy for us to forget, sometimes, what Christmas is all about. I’m not simply referring to remembering the birth of Christ. Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, is more than the remembrance of an event by the church. There is a story in Matthew 2 that is quite shocking and tells us something important about Christ’s coming. When Jesus was born the Jewish leader, King Herod, was so threatened that he wanted to kill Jesus. When Herod could not find out exactly where Jesus was, he had all the children in and around Bethlehem who were 2 and under killed. I cannot imagine who terrible this would have been. I can only imagine the sounds of mothers crying out and wailing. This is the world into which Jesus entered. It is a broken world full of wailing and injustice. It can be a dark world full of hurt and heartache. God’s plan was not to have a celebration where people felt as if they needed to set aside the hurt and heartache they feel and pretend it’s alright. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, means that the Son of God came right into the midst of that hurt and heartache. This is the very thing Jesus came to address. The Christ child brings with him an offer of salvation and this is good news precisely to those who are hurting most.
So, if this season is a struggle for you, that is okay. I encourage you to take comfort in the fact that Jesus didn’t come for the people who are okay. He came for the ones who are hurting. That’s why we sing “Joy to the World.” If you would like to be a part of a worship service that acknowledges your sadness, please join us at the United Methodist Church for our “Blue Christmas” worship on Friday, December 18 at 7:00. There is hope. God has sent his Son to rescue us.