As I go back over these days, written with the intention of being read in the days before and after Christmas, a consistent theme jumps out at me that links each day with the others. In each reading I am hearing a call to something bigger.
Day 23: My relationship with God is not just between me and God. My connection with God is something bigger, it connects me with other Christians, pulling me into a community (what a deep and meaningful word which we easily take for granted) with other believers and equipping me to share the awesome joy God gives to me with those who need to experience it. I love the admission here that we gather not just because we get along (there will be disagreements), not just because we have the exact same interests, not just because those sitting in worship with us are our best friends forever. We are connected with one another in a unity which is much bigger- the love God has expressed for us in Jesus.
Day 24: We all have our certain preferences when it comes to the brand of milk we drink, the shoes we wear, or the fast food joint we hit when time is short. Maybe you like an aisle seat on a flight or maybe you are a window person. Maybe you like it cold (you are insane) or maybe you like the July heat. Packers-Vikings. Coke-Pepsi. Fake Christmas tree or real. When it comes to church we have preferences too, but there is something bigger. Jesus. More than the music, more than the teaching style, more than the color of the pews, or the absence of pews, or the use of hymnals or projection screens... it is Jesus that defines the church, leads the church, grows the church, and unifies the church.
Day 25: Our feelings are constantly in flux. Moods come and go. Situations change, for the better as well as for the worse. But there is one thing that stays the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is something bigger than how I feel right now or what my life looks like in this moment. God's loving faithfulness which saves people from sin and its consequences will not change and it will not waver and it will not lessen. You may doubt whether God could love you, you could wonder if God has disappeared and left you to face life on your own, you may feel like the whole world is against you and there is no hope. But God's love is bigger than you could ever imagine.
Day 26: A new-born, confused parents, a census issued by the government, simple clothes, the humble manger scene. It doesn't look like much, the whole thing comes across as pretty insignificant actually. But there is something so much bigger going on in Bethlehem as God comes to be with us. Good news of great joy!
Day 27: The joy and celebration of Christmas is limited on the calendar to one day. We bemoan the stores that begin pulling out red and green merchantise in October and who can name more than three gifts of the 12 days of Christmas (11 pipers piping, five golden rings, and a partridge in a pear tree... bonus 2 turtle doves... can you beat 4?) Christmas gets thrown out with the wrapping paper and packed back into boxes which are placed in the back of the closet. But there is something bigger. A God who wants a relationship with you. A God who desires to transform every aspect of your life and fill it with meaning. A God who would give anything and has given everything for you to know Him.
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