God is With Us!

Immanuel… God is with us!

This is at the heart of our preparations for Christmas; the promise that God is with us.  This is the promise God makes throughout all of Scripture.  Whether it be the Abraham and Sarah (God is with us!) or Moses (God is with us!), or the wandering Israelites (God is with us!), or even the captives in Babylon (God is with us!), God's promise is, 'I will be your God and you will be my people.'

There are some, with good reason, who lament the excessive commercialization of this season.  There are some who are critical of those who have forgotten the reason for the season.  I understand the desire to stand for one's convictions.  I understand the frustration that is felt when we are so focused upon our wants and desires being fulfilled that we ultimately miss the blessing of the gift of Christmas.

Yet, Christmas is about acceptance if nothing else.  God doesn't wait until we prove ourselves worthy to enter into our reality.  God doesn't wait until we have proven our theological credentials to choose us as his own.  The old hymn got this one right, 'Just as I am without one plea…'

If we are worried that people are more focused upon the mas, or more, of the season and less on the Christ of this holiday, lets not get into a tug of war over semantics.  Let's choose instead to be a reflection of Christ's light.  Let it be our mission to worry less about whether others got it right, and focus more upon trying to be compassionate and forgiving toward others, just as Christ did with his disciples and his detractors.  Let it be our goal to spend less time correcting others for their political correctness, and instead of being theologically astute, might we choose to put ourselves in their shoes and show others the same kindness God has shown us.

Tolerance and acceptance are not bad words even as we experience these Christmas cultural clashes.  As followers of Jesus, let us mimic his action by being the one who is accepting of those most in need and walking alongside those most broken.

Welcome to Advent.

Peace,
Pal