20 Dec Christmas is a Rescue Mission

My youngest daughter ran down the stairs towards the advent tree hanging under our fireplace. She moved the little candy cane to December 20th with a little cheer, “Only five days til’ Christmas, Mama!” “I know, sweet girl. Can you believe it?!” For our family and maybe for yours too, December has swept by us in a breath. This month, perhaps more than any other in the year, skips by us in a swirl of glitter, cookies, parties, activities, present buying and giving, decorating, and celebrating. 

We seek to hallow these holy days. Everyday we wake counting. Counting the days of Advent. The days until Christmas. We light the Advent candles (the children arguing over who gets to light them and blow them out). They stand in awe of the candlelight, which seems to momentarily silence them and draw in their attention. We read about the Christmas story in a variety of ways through a Advent devotional I purchased for this year called, “Come Let Us Adore Him” by Paul Tripp.

We take turns reading – sometimes me, sometimes my husband, sometimes one of my elder daughters. As I have mentioned previously about our family devotional life, this time is never perfect. There are dishes or silverware clanging or dropping, my three year old making truck noises or even pounding on his little drum, and plenty of distractions such as the dinging of the microwave or the singing of the tea kettle.

We bring our distracted, imperfect selves with all our weaknesses and little squabbles to the table day by day, lighting candles and reading – sitting under the truth – trusting that day by day, in incremental ways, God’s grace is breaking through to each one of us in different ways.

On one such day, I was preparing my morning latte with the full concentration and precision that is required for that perfect blend of bitter and sweet that fuels my sanity, when my husband read words that stopped me in my tracks. He was reading the devotional that day (if you happen to have the book, it was December 12th) and I heard a perspective on the birth of Jesus which stirred my soul: “The birth of Jesus was bad news. It wasn’t just your typical piece of bad news; it was the worst news ever…Maybe you’re thinking “Paul, what are you talking about How could there be any better news than the coming of Messiah to earth?”

The Intervention of the Incarnation

He goes on to explain that God gave himself in an incredible act of redemptive love, exposing himself to our terribly broken and dysfunctional world. Why would he do such a thing? And here’s what moved my heart: “God has to invade our world in the person of Jesus because there was simply no other way. Prepare for the bad news….There was no other way because our big problem in life is not familial or historical or societal or political or relational or ecclesiastical or financial….If the only thing human beings needed were a little external tweaking of their life circumstances, then the coming of Jesus to earth wouldn’t make any sense. But if the greatest danger to all of us lives inside and not outside us, then the radical intervention of the incarnation of Jesus is our only hope.”

We focus on the coos of the baby in the nativity. On God made flesh and the miraculous nature of it all. On shepherds, wise men, angels in the heavens singing glory to God in the highest – and all of it is beautiful and earth-shaking. And yet do we consider why? Why he had to come? Why it was so necessary for him to leave his throne in heaven and wrap himself in human flesh?

“Jesus didn’t come to earth to do a preaching tour or to hang out with us for awhile; he came on a radical mission of moral rescue.”

Most of us are familiar with the dysfunctional family issues, anxiety, and/or depression and pain that can often be highlighted at Christmas time. And yet this season also highlights the incredible hope in the message of Christmas for us – God Almighty came to earth to rescue us from ourselves. To rescue our hearts from bondage to sin, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, and loneliness. To be perfectly candid, I have been struggling with many of these issues this season and desperately needed to hear this truth.

Where are you and your family in need of rescue this Christmas, friend? Jesus left his throne in Heaven and entered our world with all its brokenness because He was motivated by His passionate, unshakable love for you and yours. Open your heart to the hope of God made flesh for you. As the famous carol says, “He comes to make His blessing known far as the curse is found.”