It's hard to believe that the holidays are once again upon us. Our recent snow storm the end of November, has reminded me of the Advent season and our liturgical calendar. A time of anticipation for the coming Christmas holiday. So, I have taken to reflecting on what changes and events have transpired over the course of this last year, and how Christmas and the New Year might look a little different than past holidays.
The first observation is
that our culture and society are in desperate need of a savior, perhaps now more
than ever. People are sad, angry, anxious, and often scared.
Everything they used to know and trust is changing. The Bible forecasted
this of course; the apostle Paul talks about it in his letters to the various
churches two-thousand years ago. He says there will be false teachers and
false teaching in the last days, and that our faith would be tested. As the old saying goes: "The times,
they are-a-changing." Turn on any television show or streaming
service and you will see a constant diet of sex, violence, and bold challenges
to Christian morality. They don't even try to hide it anymore.
I believe
this pervasive spirit of blasphemy has led to a host of mental health
disorders as well. According to the National Institutes of Health and
Sciences, almost one in four people in the United States now suffer from some
type of anxiety disorder. Things such as GAD (generalized anxiety
disorder), depression, and other maladies run rampant in our culture; and are
often under reported or undiagnosed. If you think I'm overexaggerating,
step into any public school classroom in America, and spend a couple hours
with the students. My heart goes out to
all of them (especially the teachers, who are doing what they can).
Another thing
I have noticed is a direct assault on the Christian God Himself. In many
government institutions for example, all public expressions are allowed, except items
directly related to the cross or Jesus Christ. In fact, our Lord and
Savior's name has become one of America's favorite slang curse words.
Hostility is often shown to churches and the people in them, resulting in
backlash behavior and political strife. Five pastors in Chicago were recently arrested for preaching Scriptural truth in the name of Jesus. People are choosing sides more
frequently, and the safe position of "neutral" isn't acceptable
anymore. It seems as though you must profess some type of stance on
something (and hopefully we are standing for God). But often people are
not.
But I am also
grateful in many ways, that God has seen fit to preserve America for another
year. We ebb and flow, move and breathe under His mantle of forgiveness
and love. Forgiveness - because some of His children are building false
idols and rebelling against Him. And
love – because He continues to put up with it, and allows us to live in
relative peace as opposed to war here on our own soil. I pray about these
things quite often. How long, I wonder, will a benevolent God put up with
people worshipping created things but not the Creator Himself? For one
more year I suppose – if we are lucky.
There are
still small acts of joy in the world that hold promise for me. A mother's
love for her children, strong Christian pastors and leaders upholding the Word
of God in the Bible, and families getting together over robust dinner tables on
Christmas day to pray and eat together.
Christmas was built on sacrificial love. The baby in the manger two-thousand years ago was born to a virgin, and the rest is history. And it has nothing to do with shopping at Walmart for last minute gifts, or spending money online. But rather, to worship and remember that the reason we celebrate these things at all, is because God first celebrated His relationship with us. Even when we were yet still sinners separated from Him, and then even now, when people sometimes forget why they come together each year. It’s easy for us to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle of the holiday machine. But in light of God's sacrifice on our behalf, I think we can rejoice - for God is still here with us (Emmanuel).
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