Buy gifts, clean the house, deal with terrible weather, figure out what to do with kids during time off from school, coordinate plans with extended family…the holiday to-do list can become overwhelming. When you can get to church, we light another candle on the Advent wreath and get reminded to slow down, prepare our hearts and quiet our souls to meet the Lord. Sometimes I think that my reminders towards Soul Care tend to land with the same tenor as “finish the laundry.” Yes, we should spend some time reflecting during this season. We should allow ourselves some time to consider how, where and in what fashion the Lord is being born into our world now.
Whether or not you get to all those things on the to-do list doesn’t really matter to God. God isn’t interested if the baseboard has been recently cleaned or if the kids are in matching clothes. Jesus was born into chaos. His father was rejected by even inn keepers, whose job it is to be welcoming. Mary and Joseph had no place prepared for baby Jesus or any of the many items we would consider essential for proper child rearing.
Yet this is how the Savior of the world comes to us. Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. Perhaps one of our “endings” should be on our expectations. Perhaps we should end our desire of a perfectly decorated house in which a blemish free Hallmark holiday event unfolds. Friends, cut yourselves some slack. Trust that the important stuff will get done,
Like Mary let’s allow God to do a new thing in our lives, that might be a new tradition or new expectations. Like Joseph, let’s do our best, even if it feels like our best isn’t very good. Like the shepherds, let’s try to listen to God and do what we can even if it seems crazy (no one was expecting the Savior to be born in Bethlehem, that place was a dump).
They simply did the most good they could. That is perhaps the best thing we can ask of ourselves, to do our most good today. Some days that will be a lot, other days it may be just scrapping by.
Take a breath and breath deeply of the Spirit of God. Exhale the confining expectations you have of yourself. Let your breath, (pneuma in Greek meaning breath, Spirit and wind) bring you closer into contact with the Savior who loves you just as you are. That same breath is shared by others reminding us that we are not on this journey alone. I pray that your Advent season is filled with blessings AND that you can recognize them.
Merry Christmas, I Love You, Pastor Dave
