You’re a mean one
You really are a heel
You’re as cuddly as a cactus
You’re as charming as an eel
Mr…Zahradnik? *
Yes, I’ve been called a Grinch in my days for my dislike towards the Christmas season.
Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about Christmas…well almost. I am not a huge fan of the same songs on repeat starting Thanksgiving Day. Nonetheless, I enjoy the trees, lights, gifts, festivities, etc. It’s not Christmas itself that I struggle with but rather what it reminds me of.
For anyone who grew up in a divorced home, you know what I am talking about. The holidays arrive and parents fight over who gets you on the actual holiday. Then if your parents remarry you also have to go to your step-parents family activities so you get less time with your own family. And then if your parents live in different towns, you spend most of the holiday driving from one house to another. Yes, you got “double” the presents but the holidays were a constant reminder that your family is no longer together.
“Wow that’s a depressing and completely hopeless way to start off your post.”
But wait there’s more…
Add on top of all of that, this past year with the pandemic and what has happened in my personal life and I really don’t like the Christmas holiday at all.
Honestly, at the beginning of December if I had the option to completely skip Christmas, I probably would have taken you up on that…but I have 3 kids and I knew I had to do something for them so they would not dislike Christmas like me.
So we put up a Christmas tree and bought a new ornament for everyone. Then I put up a few outside lights and I felt a little better but still not excited.
Then one morning it all changed.
That morning when everything changed was when I saw this.
This kid reminded me what Christmas is about: Hope
Hope: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
2020 has definitely been a year that has seemed completely hopeless. We all want it to be over. We all are looking for some hope in the middle of this seemingly desperate situation.
Now the despair that you or I feel does not even compare to what the people of Bethlehem experienced at the time of Jesus’ birth. The Israelites were no longer the great nation they once were. They were now ruled over by Rome with Herod the Great as their king.
“Herod was indeed great; in some ways great as a ruler, builder and administrator; in other ways great in politics and cruelty.”
-David Guzik
The Israelite people were living in crushing despair. It had been years since they had heard from a prophet of God and they were left asking, “Where is God? Has God forgotten about us?”
But that all changed with the birth of the one who would be called, “Immanuel” which means, “God with us.”
Jesus’ birth was the beginning of the hope that was to come and his death, burial, resurrection were the fulfillment of that hope.
On the night of Jesus’ birth, the angels share the Good News with the shepherds:
“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
-Luke 2:10-11
The greatest gift the world has ever received came in the form of a helpless baby, who would one day willingly lay down his life to give the world the free gift of salvation.
Thinking about the picture of Isaiah looking at the Christmas tree, I begin to understand why God came as a child.
Children give us hope. They are a fresh start.
We put our dreams and expectations on them, hoping that they will live a better life than we did.
Jesus came to this world not to free us from tyrannical governments, or tough circumstances. Not even to make our lives better. No, He came to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
This Christmas may you take time to not just sit at the foot of a Christmas tree hoping you get all your presents but rather to sit at the feet of our Savior. May you gaze up at our Savior with the same hope and expectation that a child has as they await the arrival of their gifts.
And as you sit at Jesus’ feet, praise Him for the hope that His birth brought to this dark world.
May you be reminded that no matter how terrible this life may get;
Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.”
*”You’re A Mean One Mr Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft
Hope
Oh how this strikes a chord. The holidays have always had an underlying reminder of the things that are not right. The people who aren’t there. The issues that sneak in and take up space in my mind. Uhg.
I don’t expect those things to go away. But I’m with you 100% in looking for the hope that is Jesus and shows up best in the eyes of my grandchildren. Thank you for sharing your heart here.