Blue Christmas Reflection 2022

 Rev. Debbie Cato
Isaiah 40:1, 25-31and Matthew 5:1-10
Fairfield Community Church
Blue Christmas
December 21, 2022

A Reflection

 

There are times in our lives when God feels far away. There can be many reasons: massive transitions, loss and grief, fear of the future, guilt over our own behavior, or even the feeling that God has abandoned us.

That can be particularly true in Advent – the time of waiting before Christmas Eve, when so many around us are celebrating enthusiastically.  This can make the feeling of distance feel all the more painful. The words of Psalm 139, known as “The Inescapable God” are a gentle reminder that it is especially when we are feeling alone and far from God that God comes to find us … God comes to us even in the darkness, for there is no darkness that is invisible to God.  The Psalmist writes: 

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and night wraps itself around me,”^[a]
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

God is always present; especially when times are hard.  God weeps with us.  He feels our pain, our heartache.  He loves us beyond measure.  Beyond our understanding. 

I think we can hold sorrow in one hand and joy in the other. Feeling joy doesn’t cancel out the grief, and deep sorrow can’t fully snuff out joy, either. We can experience and hold space for both at the same time.

This is especially true for the season of Advent and Christmas. When you are out driving at night and the beauty of the Christmas lights overcomes you and fills you with joy, you might also feel a hint of sadness, wishing your loved one was there with you to see it. On Christmas morning, as the joy of unwrapped presents fills a room with laughter, you might also feel the sting of grief. It’s okay to feel both and know that one doesn’t cancel out the other.

Jesus came into our world in the midst of turmoil and distress; into a family pressed far from home. God announced Jesus’ birth not in the brightness of the day, but in the darkness of the night. And those whom God called to worship Jesus were not the people in power, but unnamed, humble shepherds … not the religious leaders of the nation, but foreigners who brought their special gifts.

 God still finds us, in our darkness, surprise, fear, and doubt — and welcomes us to be with Jesus in his own humble, vulnerable place … the place where the light still shines in the darkness of our world.  God’s light.  It never goes out.  Amen.