***********SPOILER ALERT!*************
Jesus wasn't born on December 25th.
But that's another story. I'm not really meaning to burst any bubbles today. Sorry if I just did. When I revealed this fact to my family a few years back, it was quite upsetting. Sorry if it is to you as well, I just wanted to get your attention.
I've talked about not always being the biggest fan of Advent/Christmas because of the encroaching commercialization. Yet, I've discovered something in the last 5 or 6 years. The people I know that have the most joy all year round don't get all bah-humbug about Christmas. They don't like the commercialization but they keep their eyes trained on the real reason for the season.
They aren't rude about it. They aren't overbearing, screaming MERRY CHRISTMAS in the face of those wishing them, "Happy Holidays!" They are quiet about their worship. They are joyful in their service. They revel in the music and drink in the experience of waiting for the Second Coming of Christ.
In addition to noticing others response to Christmas, the music is really doing it for me this year. I wrote a few weeks back about sharing a couple of songs with my (somewhat) willing older children. (Read that here.) Yes, we were in the car, they had no choice but to listen. Even still, that evening kicked off a new kind of Christmas for me, full of the movement of the Spirit through music.
My absolute favorite Christmas song is O' Come O' Come Emmanuel. The traditional version is nearly a prophetic Psalm in itself - about a group of people waiting and expecting their salvation. It hit me in church last week that is what our faith is about - believing with our hearts what our eyes do not yet see. Just like being pregnant, you know there is a person in there even if you can't see them yet....you will.
Perhaps because I'm only 10 months removed from the birth experience, how Christ came to us is so real to me. The birthing process - the pain and ecstasy of delivering a baby; the heartache and the joy. The miracle of pregnancy ending and another, more miraculous wonder of a life of a person beginning. It is a total and complete mess. Any mother or father will tell you that much.
God did it. God left the perfection and un-mess of Heaven to save us from our mess.
The wonder! The marvel! Messiah is just like us!
The incredible nature of how God came to us, to reconcile us to Himself was in full force upon my heart this morning as I watched Ella eating in her high chair. Jesus was a baby. He was a mess just like all of us, but at the same time, He was the Solver of All Messes. It hit me:
Mess-iah.
I heard a song this morning that I'd never heard before. It brought the imagery of all this messy time of year home to me. Lauren Daigle's Light of the World is a haunting and incredibly descriptive summary of that first night of Jesus' life.
I've said it before, I wish I was a songwriter.
The drought breaks with the tears of a mother.
A baby’s cry is the sound of love come down.
Come down Emmanuel.
He is the song for the suffering,
He is Messiah, the prince of peace has come.
He has come Emmanuel.
For all who wait;
For all who hunger;
For all who’ve prayed;
For all who wonder;
Behold your King,
Behold Messiah!
Emmanuel, Emmanuel.
Glory to the Light of the World!
During that :BEHOLD: part, I picture something like the Lion King, when the baby being held up for Mary to see. I don't think there was anything special about Him, glorious as He was. There was no ethereal back-light making Him shine. He was covered in goo like every newborn.
But not far from that cave, (***another spoiler*** It wasn't a barn. Sorry again.) the Heavenly Host was singing their lungs out. Their King was now the King of the World, in human flesh. They might not have understood why He did it, but they praised Him for doing it.
That, my friends, is what Christmas is about. O' Come, O' Come Emmanuel and we shall praise You for doing it!
Here is a video of the song I mentioned, enjoy it!
Jesus wasn't born on December 25th.
But that's another story. I'm not really meaning to burst any bubbles today. Sorry if I just did. When I revealed this fact to my family a few years back, it was quite upsetting. Sorry if it is to you as well, I just wanted to get your attention.
I've talked about not always being the biggest fan of Advent/Christmas because of the encroaching commercialization. Yet, I've discovered something in the last 5 or 6 years. The people I know that have the most joy all year round don't get all bah-humbug about Christmas. They don't like the commercialization but they keep their eyes trained on the real reason for the season.
They aren't rude about it. They aren't overbearing, screaming MERRY CHRISTMAS in the face of those wishing them, "Happy Holidays!" They are quiet about their worship. They are joyful in their service. They revel in the music and drink in the experience of waiting for the Second Coming of Christ.
In addition to noticing others response to Christmas, the music is really doing it for me this year. I wrote a few weeks back about sharing a couple of songs with my (somewhat) willing older children. (Read that here.) Yes, we were in the car, they had no choice but to listen. Even still, that evening kicked off a new kind of Christmas for me, full of the movement of the Spirit through music.
My absolute favorite Christmas song is O' Come O' Come Emmanuel. The traditional version is nearly a prophetic Psalm in itself - about a group of people waiting and expecting their salvation. It hit me in church last week that is what our faith is about - believing with our hearts what our eyes do not yet see. Just like being pregnant, you know there is a person in there even if you can't see them yet....you will.
Perhaps because I'm only 10 months removed from the birth experience, how Christ came to us is so real to me. The birthing process - the pain and ecstasy of delivering a baby; the heartache and the joy. The miracle of pregnancy ending and another, more miraculous wonder of a life of a person beginning. It is a total and complete mess. Any mother or father will tell you that much.
God did it. God left the perfection and un-mess of Heaven to save us from our mess.
The wonder! The marvel! Messiah is just like us!
The incredible nature of how God came to us, to reconcile us to Himself was in full force upon my heart this morning as I watched Ella eating in her high chair. Jesus was a baby. He was a mess just like all of us, but at the same time, He was the Solver of All Messes. It hit me:
Mess-iah.
I heard a song this morning that I'd never heard before. It brought the imagery of all this messy time of year home to me. Lauren Daigle's Light of the World is a haunting and incredibly descriptive summary of that first night of Jesus' life.
I've said it before, I wish I was a songwriter.
The drought breaks with the tears of a mother.
A baby’s cry is the sound of love come down.
Come down Emmanuel.
He is the song for the suffering,
He is Messiah, the prince of peace has come.
He has come Emmanuel.
For all who wait;
For all who hunger;
For all who’ve prayed;
For all who wonder;
Behold your King,
Behold Messiah!
Emmanuel, Emmanuel.
Glory to the Light of the World!
During that :BEHOLD: part, I picture something like the Lion King, when the baby being held up for Mary to see. I don't think there was anything special about Him, glorious as He was. There was no ethereal back-light making Him shine. He was covered in goo like every newborn.
But not far from that cave, (***another spoiler*** It wasn't a barn. Sorry again.) the Heavenly Host was singing their lungs out. Their King was now the King of the World, in human flesh. They might not have understood why He did it, but they praised Him for doing it.
That, my friends, is what Christmas is about. O' Come, O' Come Emmanuel and we shall praise You for doing it!
Here is a video of the song I mentioned, enjoy it!
1 comment:
What a blessing!!! Thanks, Amy, for always taking time to draw us to the Savior!! Safe and joyous journey! Love and prayers surrounding my dear, dear friends!! Blessings as you serve your family!
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