It’s that time of the year again. Holidays! All the festivities and merriment, the parties, and luncheons, gifts, decorating. Things that go along with celebrating. This year seems especially joy-filled since only last year we were in the middle of a health scare that none of us had ever experienced. It is not over but at least it has become more manageable, more tolerable.
And yet just today I was reminded of what a sad time
Christmas can be for many. Those who have lost loved ones will have fewer
places to set at the Christmas table, fewer presents to unwrap, fewer hugs and
kisses. Those who are homeless will spend yet another day in their cars, on the
streets, in a shelter, or anyplace they can find to just stay warm. Many
hurting people with many different problems.
Even I have forgotten what a sad time the holidays were for
me just a few years back. When my son was in prison, I dreaded the feeling I
got when I thought about what he was going through as we filled our hearts with
the laughter and the excitement of Christmas morning. The sense of hopelessness
can over power the love and hope found in Christ Jesus and the wonder of His
birth, death, and resurrection.
The pastor’s message in worship today really touched my
heart. The scripture was from Isaiah who saw his people really disheartened
with their circumstances. The Children of Israel were in captivity and
Jerusalem had been practically destroyed. Just as his sermon title stated, the people
were trying to cope “When Everything is Wrong.” In the search for meaning amid the chaos, they
had forgotten where true hope lies. Isaiah promised them that hope in a coming
Messiah.
In many ways we are just like those ancestors of long ago.
We search for meaning in the material and physical things of this world. My pastor’s
words struck a personal hurt that I had not recalled in many years.
When I was about 13 or 14 years old, I had a particularly
difficult Christmas. My parents had just divorced, I had moved to a new school,
and I had developed a very low image of myself. To put it frankly, I was just
hurting. I had asked for some store-bought clothes for Christmas, not just
store bought but name brand items. I was tired of wearing my homemade ones. My
mother, being a single mom, had tried her best. She purchased two beautiful
sweaters for me from a fashionable retail shop.
Although they were stylish and trendy, they were expensive and all that
she could afford. I remember the disappointment on Christmas morning when I saw
there were just two and they didn’t even fit me properly. I was a tall and
awkward size at that time which is probably the reason most of my wardrobe was
hand made. I must have cried and thrown a terrible fit, because I can still
feel the pain and the heartache, not just my own but the hurt I caused my
mother as well.
I see the same actions today in others trying to fill the
void in their heart with “stuff.” Christmas lists with impractical items for
hearts longing to feel better, searching for hope.…trying to find their store-bought
happiness
That’s where we as believers can help. Unlike Isaiah, we
know the promised Messiah. We can be the hands and feet of Christ. We can offer
that hope to a world that has forgotten what it means to care for our fellow
man. And it doesn’t take a lot of time and money either. We just have to offer
ourselves to others. A simple smile, a kind word, a handshake can start a
transformation and, who knows, it just might change someone’s life in the
process.
