The Most Christmas-iest Christmas we have ever Christmas-ed.
Back in March (which feels like approximately one billion years ago), we stood at a regular yet cosmic seasonal shift in the church. It was Lent and it was also still in the very early stages of what remains an uncontrolled pandemic.
And it felt like a wilderness. Like a forced reverse exile. It still very much does.
Forty days has turned into nine months. And counting. Milestone after milestone.
I quoted a friend of mine then who said that it felt like it was the: “Lent-iest Lent we have ever Lent-ed.”
We were isolated. Stir crazy. Polarized. Fighting over the value of human life. Anticipating an ugly election.
We had all given up way more than we had ever imagined, including really simple things like having folks over for dinner around a table inside. And many losing loved ones to this virus.
As the months wore on and on, we also witnessed the rise of civil unrest at the death of George Floyd on a warm night in Minneapolis and a global response to police brutality.
Our life has changed and is still changing.
We continue to be asked to sacrifice something collectively that feels daunting and overwhelming.
And now we are moving into potentially the most Advent-y Advent we have ever Advent-ed.
We often say during these waiting times, like Lent and Advent, that we shouldn’t move too quickly into Easter or Christmas. That this time is holy. That it’s important to pause and remember.
Like God’s people through the ages, their lives often remained in the balance. Powers pivoting. Empires failing. Waiting for an end to slavery. Hoping for a deliverer. Dreaming of a promised land. Praying for a Messiah. Craving liberation and freedom.
We don’t want to move too quickly to Christmas because we don’t want to forget the pain of these shifts. We don’t want to gloss over the trauma. We don’t want to minimize the process of healing.
That doesn’t mean we don’t still pray for an end to this virus and the full health of our communities, but it reminds us that our human struggle is not a reflection of God’s absence.
Instead, we trust and we re-light our candles to push back darkness again.
We look for God’s fulfilment of God’s promise and the birth of God’s love again in Christ.
Christmas, like so many of our festivals this year, is going to be different.
But like these major seasons in the life of God’s people, the Lent-iest, Easter-iest, and Advent-iest, it will likely too be the Christmas-iest Christmas we have ever Christmas-ed.
Christ was most certainly born for this. Into my home and yours.
Blessed Christmas-iest Christmas,
Pastor Peter
