Home for Christmas?

A lot has changed this year.  That feels like the understatement of the century.  It has been about a year since the first case of COVID-19 was discovered.  It has been not only a highly contested topic of discussion, but the outworkings of those discussions have led to difference in actions as well.  Governments all over the world started taking action and making changes to policies.  Many of our Christmas Traditions have been changed this year.  Parties, caroling, concerts, shows, and so much more have been canceled or heavily modified to meet public health and safety guidelines.   Travel is much more restricted, especially between states and countries.  My family is spread out over multiple states, and it looks like this Christmas we will be staying that way.  There are just too many risks and regulations for people to travel to be together for Christmas.    We are mailing gifts and utilizing technology.  I’ll be home for Christmas, if only on a video call.  This has caused me to reflect on the circumstances surrounding the “reason for the season.”

Government mandates forced a young woman (probably in her teens) from Nazareth to travel across the country in the last half of her first pregnancy!  Not only was Mary leaving home for Christmas, but she would also give birth among strangers.  For those mothers reading, just imagine giving birth in a barn, surrounded by animals, with little support, and without her mother nearby.  If Mary had a midwife with her, it was whatever stranger was available to help her when her time came.  This may have been the innkeepers wife or some other women who lived nearby, but they probably were not people that Mary knew well.  She had to travel with Joseph, her husband, to the place of his family’s heritage.  While his family may have been with them, hers was not.  I’m sure the circumstances of Jesus’s birth were nothing like she ever imagined when the angel came to her revealing the news of his conception!  Though you may be away from your family right now, just remember, you are not the only one.  Many other people are in the exact same position, both this year and in the past.  Do not despair in loneliness this Christmas, but seek the Savior who has come to bring life!

Joseph was a new husband.  He not only had to care for his very pregnant wife as they traveled, but he also had to find them a place to stay when they arrived.  He arrived in a strange town with his wife in labor finding only a barn as a shelter.  Spending several months moving across the country can take a toll on your family economy.  Though Joseph had a trade, it is hard to make money when you are traveling.  Then, being new in town, it is hard to get work for a while.  The economic shutdown may make Christmas celebrations smaller this year for financial as well as safety reasons.  Some people are battling economic difficulties that will cause them to stretch Christmas dinner a bit thinner this year.  There are people who are forced to move searching for new job opportunities to provide for their families.  If you are struggling with a smaller Christmas or moving to a new town, possibly away from family, at Christmas, remember, the Savior of the World was born in very humble surroundings!

While Mary and Joseph may have been forced to give up a lot, all that happened to them was a fulfilment of prophecy.  God was showing the world exactly who was coming to join them that night.  God incarnate, the Word made Flesh, Jesus was the promised Messiah!  Jesus gave up the most that first Christmas.  The Creator of the universe took on human flesh and was born in a barn!  “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Chrsit is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

Find JOY this Christmas as we celebrate the coming of Jesus.  He gave up all of the privilege and glory of heaven to come to earth in human form.  He limited himself to set us free from our bondage to sin.  Not only did he come to save us, but he is coming again!  We know that our suffering on this earth is only temporary.  For all those who belong to Christ, we have an eternity with our Savior to look forward to!  This has been a hard year for most people, and sometimes we can get caught up in what we don’t have or who we won’t see this year.  We may not get to go home for Christmas this year, but look forward to our home in heaven and rejoice in the Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you!