Into the Rough Places

Several years ago, my friend Andy traveled to the Holy Land. And he said that while visiting the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square in Bethlehem, he was caught off guard. He was expecting to see the spot where Jesus was first laid and took his first breath, but what he was not expecting to see was that right next to the manger itself, separated only by a wall built much later, sits the tomb of the innocents. It is a memorial to the firstborns killed in Herod’s attempt to end Jesus’s life before it ever got started. 

Andy said, standing there between the manger and the tomb was jarring. It was a stark reminder of humanity’s capacity for inhumanity… and then in contrast: the unwavering, unfaltering love of God – love that would take on human flesh and enter our world.

When I think about the biblical story and the manger, I am reminded that it is not as quaint as it first appears. It has its rough edges. But I take it as great comfort that when God stepped into this world, God didn’t elect to step outside the fray or ignore the hardship, chaos, and heartbreak of ordinary human lives. No instead, it was in the middle of uncertainty, desperate need, and the conflict of everyday life – that Christ came. And that is where Christ has promised to meet us, in those rough places, even today.

On this holy day, as division continues to grip our nation, as war grips parts of our globe, as many of us struggle with loneliness or health or brokenness, we sense a longing for healing, for peace.  

In the midst of all this, Christmas reminds us that, in spite of the darkness, there is indeed a Spirit, a moment at work in the world that runs deeper than labels, a Spirit that is stronger than the powers that divide, a Spirit that is more powerful than hate or greed or brokenness, or illness or loneliness.

In his Gospel, John describes Christmas like this: 

And the Word became flesh and lived among us… And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.

My prayer for you on this Christmas Eve and for the year ahead is that you would glimpse again the unconditional, unwavering, unfaltering love of God – love that is more powerful than the darkness; a love that will outlast all that is; a love that is calling out the better side of humanity – healing, redeeming, forgiving, and calling you, and me, to follow.

Let us pray: On this Holy Day, the celebration of the birth of your son, Lord God, we worship you, we adore you, we praise you. We remember today that Christmas is about a birth. It is a beginning, a new start. Give us eyes to see the places where the light is overtaking the darkness, and hearts to follow the light. Fill each of us with the beauty of this day until we overflow in joy and praise. We ask in Jesus’s name. Amen.