Have you noticed how often people talk about “home” at Christmas time? “Did your kids come home for Christmas?” “Are you going to be able to go home?” “This is my son’s first Christmas away from home.” Christmas and home seem to go together, as we’ve heard in many popular songs. People go to a lot of trouble and expense, just to be home for a few days — “But it’s Christmas!” Sometimes that trip can’t be made — there’s not enough money, there’s no vacation time from work, or someone is ill or can’t travel. And we learn that even if you or someone special to you can’t be in a certain place for Christmas, it still comes to you, and to every one of us. “Home is where the heart is” is an old familiar saying, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. When we gather as a church family to celebrate the birth of our Savior, we are truly in the home of our heavenly Father.
We have arrived at the destination of our Advent journey. The child has been born in Bethlehem, the angels have sung their anthems of good news to the shepherds, and the story moves on to the next chapter. We’ve been in the midst of the happy, busy time of holiday preparation, and then it seems rather suddenly over. But it’s still Christmas on the church calendar — we continue to celebrate and rejoice in the miracle of God coming to live among his people in the form of a human. There are still songs to sing and more of the story to tell!
The journey led us over some rough roads, through some dark places searching for the light, and we’ve once again been reminded of the great blessing it is to be part of a church family. These four weeks are a rather odd combination of moving along at a deliberate pace, but then also going so quickly we can’t quite absorb it. Of course, some of that breakneck speed is due to our popular version of Christmas, with all the busy-ness that comes with it. Perhaps having the church extend Christmas a little longer is a unique gift that gives you a chance to slow down and take in the wonder of this story, which is so very old yet always new.
As we say at the conclusion of every worship service: “Thanks be to God!”
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers