Are You Ready?

This is the question everyone is asking lately. They mean “are you ready for Christmas?” But they aren’t asking about your soul or your standing before God. (Gulp). They are asking if you’ve shopped for everyone, planned all the meals, decorated the house, the yard, etc. etc. This question might make some spreadsheet-type women burst with a sense of accomplishment. (I say women because we are really the ones who make Christmas happen… Mary was the one who gave birth to the Savior, right?) But this question makes all the regular women have tightening in our chests, (I’ll include myself here) and wonder: “Am I ready? Have I done enough? Will I disappoint? Will I fail to meet the expectations to provide the commercialized perfect American Christmas along with nurturing and readying the hearts and minds of my family to celebrate and receive our Savior afresh?” Christmas can be hard for moms. Especially Christian moms who want to not only create a magical experience through presents and stockings and cookies, but also curate experiences that will point to the true meaning, while also not getting too caught up in the visible, tangible Michael Bublé Christmas. It can feel like a lot of pressure. But it’s actually impossible to get it all right.

But here is the good news. It’s ok. We aren’t supposed to.

This year I’ve had a revelation about Christmas that speaks more to my heart and soul than ever before. It gives me rest even if I still don’t have the alligator tooth my six year-old asked Santa for Christmas, so I’d better come up with one if I want to keep the magic alive. (Just kidding, I found one on Amazon for $9.99. It comes in a cute little jar labeled “alligator tooth.”) So here’s the revelation. . . Christmas is about the good news of our gracious and loving Father sending His Son to earth to bring tidings of comfort and joy. We should hang the lights, buy our kids toys (and teeth) they don’t need, and gather with family and friends whether we like them or not. We should sing, bow down, and receive afresh the Love that has been so freely given to us. But the way that God chose to save us was through suffering and pain. Christmas is not absent of suffering and pain. In fact, Jesus came into the world THROUGH suffering (childbirth) and ended his time through suffering (the cross). When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses, the prophet Simeon prophesied over him that he was the Messiah, and this is what he said to Mary:

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” - Luke 2: 34-35

“A sword will pierce your own soul too.” How’s that for Christmas magic? Yet, still Mary was called blessed. And she knew she was blessed. But being blessed still meant great suffering for her. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! . . Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:43, 45). Then Mary goes on to say in her famous Magnificat, “From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.” (Luke 1:48b-49). Mary embraced her path of suffering, yet still embraced the joy.

I think that’s what we are meant to do at Christmas time also.

This time of year can bring up big emotions for some people. It highlights unmet desires and longings, things that are not as they should be, disappointments, loss, and hurt. Maybe you’ve lost someone and feel that absence more intensely this time of year. Maybe you are a child of divorce and can still feel that pang of worrying about whichever parent you weren’t with on Christmas day growing up. Maybe Christmas highlights more disappointments for you than it does joy. Maybe the disappointments overshadow the joy, and you feel guilty for not being able to “embrace the magic of Christmas” yet again.

But what if you can do both? What if you SHOULD do both? At Christmas time, we don’t have to stuff down the sad feelings or the disappointments and pretend to be happy. We also don’t have to write-off the joy and be consumed by our sorrow. Jesus was a man of deep joy AND a man of sorrows. Mary was a woman of deep joy and deep sorrow. Not only can we identify with them in both, but we can be met by Him in both. Jesus wants to meet us here, now, in our joys and in our sorrows. He wants to comfort us and also point us to the joy of our greater hope we have in him.

But there’s more good news.

The first advent, Jesus coming as baby in obscurity, is only the beginning. There is more to come. Jesus is still going to come back in glory for a second advent! Why don’t we emphasize this more as Christians? Probably because it sounds kind of crazy. I’ve had moments when I’m explaining to my kids about Jesus coming back and what that could look like and think to myself “oh my gosh, this is NUTS!!” (in a good way). But it has to ALL be true to even grasp for one second the profound intention of Christmas. Jesus came into the world to save it, but is also coming back to make everything right … to REDEEM and RESTORE us and the earth and to “make all the sad things come untrue.” (Sally Lloyd-Jones).

Even if you set up the most perfect Christmas experience, buy the perfect presents, and have the tastiest meats on your charcuterie boards, there will still be unmet longings and desires. The kids will get tired of their toys in a month and those who feasted will become hungry again. But that ok. That's right actually, because while we are meant to embrace and celebrate the joy of Christmas NOW, we are also meant to await the second advent. Jesus still has to come back.

So it’s okay if someone gets upset at Christmas, if you couldn’t find that obscure Christmas present your child asked for, or if you are reminded of your loss and pain. That longing for a healed world is right. We can look to Jesus in all of it. Because…

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… but he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53: 4a, 5).

Mary was pierced. Jesus was pierced. They were both blessed and they both suffered. But Jesus suffered so that we could have real, everlasting peace with God. Not just in heaven, but now. Jesus wants to meet us in all of it.

At church last Sunday, our pastor talked about this second advent and what it will be like when Jesus comes back. He asked us the question “are you ready?” But he was not talking about our Christmas shopping. He was talking about being ready when the trumpet sounds and God’s rescue plan for the world begins its final stage. “Are you ready to meet Jesus face to face?” I was so relieved to hear this question. “Oh, phew,” I thought. “It’s not just about being ready in an earthly sense. That’s not the most important thing. There is a bigger kingdom of God at hand in the present, in the unseen, and there will be one that we CAN see when Jesus comes back.” That’s good news.

We do not live in a healed world yet. Our hearts are not fully healed either. But they will be one day. Let’s embrace the “both/and” nature of Christmas this year. Let’s sing and be glad and also allow ourselves to fully feel the brokenness when it comes up and be met by Jesus in it. He sees, He knows, He cares. He already has a plan to make it fully right. That’s the good news of Christmas. Laugh and cry, buy presents and serve the needy, embrace the joy and embrace the suffering. You are closer to Jesus when you do.