It's been good to have a few days off this week. Our music studio is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and I took some extra days off at church, so I haven't been spending much time with anyone except family.
In fact, I think the only non-family interactions I had with in the last 2 days were service-people from the various stores I visited to shop for last-minute gifts. I always have to think at the end, whether I should say, "Have a good day!" or "Merry Christmas!" I mean, so many people are afraid of not being politically correct (myself included, unfortunately) that I always assume that others will avoid the "C"- word.
Actually, this year, I was pleasantly surprised. Seems like every cashier or worker wished me a Merry Christmas before I even said anything. It heartened me to continue on wishing people Merry Christmas whether they celebrate it or not, because, Christmas IS a big deal, to all, whether they believe that or not.
The angel of the Lord told the shepherds,
"I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah,
the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!"
Luke 2:10-11
Great joy to all people is hard to believe because there are so many people who don't find joy in even the concept of a Christmas which centers on Santa Claus and gift-giving, let alone a Christmas whose real meaning is God coming to earth to save mankind. It's hard to believe even for Christians... our hearts are so jaded and filled with trash during this season: greed for more stuff, materialism, addictions or over-indulgences, frustrations in our family relationships, self-loathing or desire to impress others...
I've been forgetting to keep Jesus the Savior as my central focus and thus struggling with some of these this week. When that happens, I even lose enjoyment in the good things (like time spent with loved ones, beautiful lights on my tree, and homemade raspberry crumble bars) since I become so obsessed with the "trash".
Well... there's no secret formula to put things back in perspective. No self-help book, no guru advice needed. All I really need to do is resolutely fix my eyes on Jesus (thereby taking my eyes off the trash), and slowly but surely I get the attitude pick-up that I need. And then the joy in the good things comes back.
Try taking out the trash with me: turn off the TV, stop complaining or thinking bad thoughts about that family member, put down the extra cookie or beer, bite your tongue before issuing a cutting retort. And instead, we'll spend some time singing a worship song or maybe re-reading a part of the Christmas story in Luke. Combine it with an honest prayer of confession. And in the end, we will find our hearts start to be cleaned from the unrest and all the garbage.
The angel's words "great joy to all people" referred to God's ultimate plan to save the world from sin. But that starts in each of our own lives as we turn to him and ask him for that joy, giving up the dingy and battered hearts which we already own and to which we cling so stubbornly. For us, it might be a constant battle, but deep down, we know that God has already won it for us. Great joy is ours for the taking... we just have to keep reaching to Him for it.
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