My mom died of cancer in September of 1998. She was 58, just a year older than I am right now in 2020. As I put up our Christmas decorations yesterday, I was reflecting that had she lived she would be 80 years old this year. It was natural to think of her at Christmas because she loved it so much.
Her passing threw a wrench into Christmas for me for years. I lost my equilibrium. It's difficult to explain how someone can anchor a family, but my mom had such spiritual gravity. It took several years to figure out how to have Christmas without her.
My mom gave so much to others. She taught Sunday school at the youth detention center in Augusta for many years. She helped host a Christmas party for those kids year after year. She introduced me to Jesus and my wife.
The Christmas story is mingled with sorrow. Jesus' mother Mary was told to expect anguish in the unfolding of God's redemptive drama:
Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed — and a sword will pierce your own soul — that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35 CSB)
Advent means arrival. Jesus came here-- God in human form. Isaiah described Him as "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). He drank the cup of God's wrath. It's expressly why he came:
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9).
Death isn't meaningless. Jesus' Advent infused it with resurrection meaning. Sometimes I wonder what Christmas would be like if my mom was still here. I even weirdly wonder if we'll celebrate Christmas in heaven. I know that "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into anyone's heart all that God has in store for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Hope and Sorrow mingled together. That's how it is right now. It won't always be so. Soon it won't be either. Hope will give way to the reality of resurrection and reunion for those in Christ.
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