Im·man·u·el or Em·man·u·el from Hebrew ʽimmānū'ēl, literally, with us is God
When Paul asked me to share how the Advent Conspiracy value
of LOVE is reflected in our family’s decision to open our home to friends,
acquaintances and even strangers who may not have anyone to share Christmas Day with, it got me thinking. Why do we do this? Is it a selfish motive—we just don’t want to
be alone on Christmas—no it isn’t that—we can always find family to join with
on Christmas. It is easy to begin to fall into the
rather generally accepted belief that Christmas is a celebration of
family (I have heard it stated that way many times this year). No, it isn't that either. Well, what then?
I grew up in a home where people were always welcome. We often had people from our small community
join us for meals on Sunday. We had
people in our lives that others would probably look down on. My parents invested a great deal of time into
the lives of these people- one kept returning to her abusive husband and one is
now an infamous criminal—but my parents loved them in the name of Jesus. They visited people in jail and brought them
hope and encouragement, and I remember several Christmases where my dad brought
a person he knew from his social services work home with us for Christmas Day. He was tormented
by voices that told him to do terrible things.
He had hurt members of his family and was no longer welcome among them. He was terribly alone, but for one day he
was not. He was loved. For one day he was not judged.
The Christmas of my childhood was filled with family. Early in the morning my father’s family—aunts
uncles and a passel of cousins--- would come to our house for breakfast and
presents. Then in the afternoon we would go to my grandparents' house for a huge
dinner with my mom’s family. After graduating from College I spent a
Christmas 3000 miles away from my family.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I was reconciled to the reality of
Christmas alone. I bought myself a
Douglas Fir tree at a local big box store just so that I could have a
piece of the Northwest in my home. Christmas morning I opened presents sent by my far-away-family. Then
one of my friends (also from the Northwest and spending the holiday away from
home) invited me to join a group of his friends who were getting together on Christmas. I didn't know them and really I probably didn't have much in common with them. I don't even really remember interacting with them that much, but it was a
wonderful feeling to have people to spend the day with. I felt cared for and
valued.
Over the past ten years of our marriage we have struggled
with figuring out what Christmas means for our family and what traditions we
want our children to know and love. We
are no longer surrounded by extended family—in fact, my husband is an orphan
and truly feels that emptiness more during the holidays. My mother and I miss my father more during the holiday season. Richard and I often work all or part of the holiday which has made the celebration very different for our children. Some years it has just been Abby and Grandma for most of the day. We have in the past put out an open invitation
for people to join us in our home on Christmas Day, but have never actually had
anyone take us up on this offer. Most of
the people in our circles are blessed to have local family and friends with whom to spend the
day. On those days we have traveled a few hours to have dinner with family which is not a bad thing, but it was not the desire of our hearts.
This year our family has prayed
together and asked God to lead us to people who need to feel his love this
year. We are looking forward to a day
shared with the a diverse group of people. We have a rather large dining room table--I would love to have to move furniture so that we can extend it out completely.
Ultimately isn’t this what Christmas is truly about—God sent
his son, Jesus, in Love- that his people who had struggled and fallen, hoped
and despaired might know that they were not alone and were not abandoned but
that they were loved with a love greater than any they had known? So he sent Jesus—the Word as flesh and blood to dwell among us and show us that we were not forgotten—that we were
not too far fallen to receive God’s Mercy and Grace. He is God with us and
that’s the most important gift of Christmas that we hope to make one of our
family’s traditions and to share the joy of that love with others.
Now
that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready
access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a
priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness
and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up
to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the
help. Hebrews 4:14-16 (The Message)
