The world is slowly returning to “normal” following Christmas. There may yet be a few after-Christmas shopping excursions, but it feels less and less like Christmas to many. Never mind that for the Church, the season of Christmas runs to January 6. Christmas is over.
At least it is for those who look for Christmas to inject a bit of momentary magic into their lives and then fade away. Don’t get me wrong, I love a little Christmas magic as much as the next person, but this seasonal lift is only vaguely connected to Christian faith. The sparse treatment of Christmas in the Bible reminds us that it is but the beginning of a story, the start of a new chapter in the story of God’s love for humanity.
But of course God’s love in nothing new. It is on display in today’s reading from Isaiah. The people of Israel look at their desperate situation and conclude that God has forsaken them. But God responds, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.”
From its opening, the Bible continually tells us that God will not give up on humanity, that despite human foolishness and waywardness, God reaches out to us, God moves towards us. The newness that Christmas reveals is the demonstration of just how far God will go in this work of reconciliation and healing. Not only will God become fully immersed in the pain and suffering of humanity in Jesus, but God invites us into the work of healing and reconciling.
Christmas begins a story that calls us to trust the promise of Isaiah, that God cannot forget us. And when we can fully trust ourselves to that love, we can become more and more like Jesus, able to live out God’s love for the world, even when it is costly for us. And this new beginning of Christmas is never “over.” It is still making all things new. It is still calling us to become new creations in Christ. And it is still working to move the world toward the coming rule of God.
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