Missing Christmas

Brianna R Wasson
December 15, 2010

They were looking for regal, so they missed His arrival. They’d been given fair warning that He was coming. And still they missed out. Sure, they didn’t have an exact date, but still they knew. Or at least they should have known. For they had heard rumblings from prophets of old that the King would come. Still they missed Christmas.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. -Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

They were looking for stunning, spectacular, stately. But that’s not how He came.

Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this? The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,

a scrubby plant in a parched field.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing to cause us to take a second look. -Isaiah 53:1-3 (msg)

Instead of majestic, they got a poor baby whose parents couldn’t even get a room. And their expectations made them miss the whole thing.

It makes me wonder about the whole Christmas chase. Are we missing Christmas because of what we think it should look like? The perfectly wrapped present. The most beautifully decorated tree. The most amazing amount of cookies and candy canes and Christmas cards. The best parties to attend and church Christmas programs.

I’m on the way to understanding this whole crazy thing we call Christmas. And I’m pretty sure this is not what God had in mind when He sent huge crowds of angels, some shepherds and three really smart men to spread the news of the King’s arrival on earth. I have more to grasp, but I don’t believe that God’s idea for Christmas included stressed-out grumpy moms yelling at overworked retail clerks about Zhu-Zhu Princess Carriages. And I’m starting to think that Satan must be having a hay-day with the whole thing. You know, just enough giving to make us think we get the real meaning of Christmas . . . only not. Just enough joy to make us chase our idea of perfection to the point where we miss the joy and go right to the greedy. Just enough grace to make us feel like we’re serving our Master while crossing it off our list, begrudgingly wondering why we bother.

Please understand I am so all about the celebration of Christmas. I love the beauty that the celebration inspires. I just think that somehow we’ve gone from inspired beauty in awe of what God has done to uptight obligation in light of what we think Christmas should look like.

So I am taking measures this year to enhance the joy of the season for real. And I am totally believing that this time I will not miss Christmas. Not even when it’s over.