And yet, and yet…

Ever get bored of Christmas?

It can appear in many forms: watching Charlie Brown Christmas Special for the 500th time, going to the same Christmas party every year, singing the same carols over and over again, putting up with Mariah Carey yelling about what she wants for Christmas.

We love Christmas, but if we’re being honest, if you’ve been in church for long you’ve heard the Christmas story hundreds of times. Joseph and Mary staying by the manger and keeping watch over their child speaks volumes.

Please don’t think me harsh. I absolutely love Christmas. And yet I wonder sometimes how others are approaching the same story over and over.

I think that Christmas is powerful in the way that it unearths our normal devotional practices. Taking something so sacred and holy and doing it a million times will inevitably demonstrate what we care about. And trying to dig deeper and deeper to find more meaningful spiritual nuggets in the story of the Advent can demonstrate for us how much more we can invest our minds in our Christian experience than our hearts.

And yet, I come to the Christmas story. I know the details, I’ve heard the narrative. The story whispers of hopes long deferred, of outcasts being given seats at the table, of astrological signs and wonders. I know the shepherds, the kings, the Herods, the history, the poverty, and so on.

But do I know it?

Do I know the press of poverty, the relief of waiting ended, the wonder that to the disused and small things of the earth great wisdom was laid out? Do I know the songs of armies of angels going out to war in the heavens, celebrating the victory of Advent? Do I know the tender touch of a mother and father doing their best to care for their first son? Do I know the fullness of joy and sorrow in the heavens, knowing who this Son would be and what he would do for us? Do I know that the heavens and earth literally changed for his coming, yet quietly proceeded in a backwater village that had seen better days?

Can I experience the thrill of hope?

As we approach the celebration of Christmas, we participate in an ongoing impossible story. We are beckoned in beyond our understanding and are given the grace to worship at the manger. And like Mary, may our souls be pierced too.

“The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Luke 2:14