Nothing is the Same

by Marlee Robertson

All of the Advent candles are lit. The waiting and preparing are done. Hope, peace, joy and love have arrived with the coming of Jesus. What now? Experience tells me when a baby arrives, nothing is ever the same.

Many of us have beaten to a pulp the question of celebrating this year. How? Who? Where? Speaking for myself, it has brought a fair amount of stress. And what for? Am I afraid if I don’t have the people I’m most comfortable with around me, Christmas won’t happen? Am I afraid if we don’t “go” to a Christmas Eve service, it doesn't “count?” Hear me when I say, I love all the activities of Christmas and if next year we’re back to “normal,” I will be in the middle of it all. But this year, because so much extra has been stripped away, I have gotten to see where my attention has been and where it should be.

I want to be like the shepherds who, after the angel brought good news, reacted with great joy. I want the way I celebrate Christmas to bring peace on earth. I want my posture to be good will to all people. I want to return to my everyday life praising God and thanking him for all I had seen and heard.  

Because once the baby arrives, nothing is ever the same.

Luke 2:8-16   In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Marlee Robertson

Christian Education Director

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