35 – The Real Christmas

No one wants to be in a difficult place at Christmas time. We want to feel happy and enter into the spirit of the season. But is that really what the season is about? Or is the reality of Christmas far more reminiscent of the deep than of decorated trees and twinkling lights? Come into the deep to find the true meaning—and the deepest joy and hope—of Christmas.

Show Notes

We’re glad you’re here with us at Christmas time. But maybe this Christmas you don’t feel like celebrating. Maybe you’re going through trials, and maybe this Christmas you’re saying things like:

I HATE that this is happening at Christmas! This isn’t what Christmas is supposed to be. Everyone’s happy but me.

Or maybe things you’re hoping for haven’t come to pass. That’s an experience of loss.

Or maybe you’ve suffered the loss of a loved one, or a job, or a book contract, or a career.

Life intensifies around holidays, stress levels rise, we feel grief, depression, etc., more deeply. It all feels like loss, in so many ways. Loss of loved ones, loss of traditions, loss of things hoped for—the perfect job we were hoping for, or the life, or the spouse (if we’re single and don’t want to be). But those things happen all year round, so why are they so much more debilitating at Christmas time? Maybe it’s because we don’t really, in our heart of hearts, understand what Christmas was. And still is.

 

Isaiah 24:4-6

“The earth mourns and dries up, and the land wastes away and withers. Even the greatest people on earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin…”

This is not just talking about “those people over there” who’ve broken His covenant. We all have. We’re in a deep place. That’s our true condition.

 

But at Christmas, we have these expectations…

It’s a holly, jolly Christmas…It’s the most wonderful time of the year…Off to Grandma’s house we go…

Happy, happy, joy, joy—WHY AREN’T YOU SMILING???

 

For many, here’s the reality:

It’s a debt-filled, disappointing Christmas…It’s the most frustrating time of the year…

And then there are those who are not just disappointed or frustrated, but are devastated. Those who have no trouble believing the world is under a curse, because they feel as though their lives are cursed.

But none of this is the reality of Christmas, what it was and what it is. Rather, this is a perceived “reality” when we’re focused through the filter of what WE think or feel—based on traditions and expectations and so many other things—Christmas is. So today, let’s take a look at what God tells us Christmas is. And why being in the deep isn’t terrible at Christmas, but a place to experience the true intent of Christmas.

 

So what was Christmas?

Romans 8:20-23

“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us.”

The world was dark and troubled…and troubling. It was messy. With no answers. And no hope.