Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of people murmur about Christmas being cancelled due to COVID. They’re understandably bummed out about not being able to celebrate with their families or enjoy a number of other holiday traditions. Parties, concerts, programs, festivals, and all kinds of cheerful seasonal activities are now out of the question due to COVID.
I understand the grief over these things, sharing some of it myself, but I would not say that Christmas is cancelled. Sure, certain ways of celebrating Christmas are cancelled, but Christmas itself will happen no matter what happens with COVID. The heart of Christmas is an ancient story which, rightly considered, can bring joy no matter what is going on at the time. The season of Advent, as we said last week, is all about waiting for Jesus’s coming, both in the past and in the present. In both cases, the people who wait do so in dark times. Whenever I sit down and consider the conditions in which Jesus first came into the world, I am struck by how similar they are to today. Terrorism, political strife, illness, economic inequality, and the insecurity caused by increased cultural homogenization were features of that world almost as much as they are ours. In some cases, worse; after all, our politicians at least pretend not to be fine with murdering villages full of children. The joy of this ancient story is definitely not atmospheric, and I’d like to think that the joy of Christmas is far more enduring than the aesthetic of the season. There were no lights, concerts, or parties at Jesus’s birth--one of the most important events of human history happened in the humble privacy of a stable. The angels only went to go get the shepherds once Jesus was already born; I imagine they couldn’t bear to be alone in their joy. What was this joy about? This child, Jesus, was and is the one who will one day vanquish all disease, death, suffering, violence, pain, and fear. This child, Jesus, is the Almighty Creator God humbling Himself into vulnerable human flesh to be near us, to redeem us, to show us up close what divine love looks like on human features. If that’s not worth celebrating, I don’t know what is. This week of Advent focuses on joy, and it’s a good time to ask: is my joy manufactured by lights and music, or does it arise from remembering that Jesus has come and will come again? There are a lot of dark things in the world right now, for sure, and so many comforting customs have gone by the wayside, but there is still Jesus, the Light of the World who will one day obliterate the darkness. Meanwhile, life goes on, and it’s understandable that we miss living it alongside our loved ones. One of the hardest kinds of love to practice is the kind where you separate yourself from people you enjoy to keep them and yourself safe. Humans were not built for isolation, and it does take a toll on our joy to be separated from each other. When you are feeling the gloom of being apart from the ones you love, remember this: you are all experiencing Christmas right now, and while you cannot see each other, you are connected in a very real way. Reach out to your loved ones by phone, Zoom, card, or email to let them know you care. Take comfort and joy in the core of the Christmas story, and don’t let the present isolation keep you from enjoying what good things you can experience together now.
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AuthorJillian Lutes is the youth pastor at West Covina Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church. Archives
May 2020
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