We Long For: Love & Belonging

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. From the classic cartoons to the lights and the music—not to mention the green and red and white decorations and my mom’s Christmas cookies—I didn’t just count down the days to Christmas in December, but I was looking forward to Christmas as soon as my early February birthday had passed.

Christmas is not the same now.

It might be that my rose-colored glasses have been crunched in the metaphorical snow of paying rent and utilities for a too-small apartment. Or it might be the fact that my desire to instill a love for Christmas in my children, like my parents did for me, costs a pretty penny that I can’t justify spending this year—leading to increased thoughts of the “good ol’ days.” But at the end of the day—I miss my parents and siblings and wish we could all be together for an extended period at Christmas.

Because what is Christmas if not a family holiday?

And what builds a family if not love?

Christians typically reflect on Advent on the Sundays before Christmas. However, since this blog does not intend to compete with your weekly Christian fellowship at your own local church—but rather seeks to supplement it—I’ve decided to post these reflections on Tuesdays, with a final one on Wednesday, December 25.

Week 1: Hope – Genesis 1
Week 2: Peace – Exodus 3
Week 3: Joy – Psalm 130
Week 4: Love – Matthew 1
Christmas Day: Christ – Titus 2

In Matthew 1:21 we are introduced to the Christmas family:

“She will bear a son, and you will call his name ‘Jesus,’ because he will save his people from their sins.”

“She” is Mary, the mother of Jesus and the fiancée of Joseph (the “you” referred to). Jesus is the reason for the season.

But there is another branch of this family that our Christmas celebrations don’t often remember. Sure, they can be understood as represented by the wise men and shepherds in our Nativity scenes, but there is more (we’ll touch on it in even greater detail tomorrow). What was the whole reason for Jesus’ coming?

Matthew tells us it was “because he will save his people from their sins.”

If this isn’t a reference to family, I don’t know what is. This is especially true since the word here is a word that specifically refers to the people of Israel. Jesus came to save Israel from their sins.

Is this not what we read last week?

• “He will redeem Israel from all its lawlessness.” (Psalm 130:8)
• “He will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

The one who was promised as the solution for Israel’s sin last week has been conceived and will be born this week. He will save his people from their sins. From their lawless deeds. From their exile. From their slavery.

Two things worth noting: 1) the love of God for his people in keeping his promise to save his people, and 2) the love of Jesus for his people.

God could have left his people high and dry. They’d sinned. He’d punished them. But he graciously brought them back to the land. But the people knew their sin was still crouching for them (Genesis 4:7). The reality that led to the exile was still present within them, still exerting power over them. So they prayed the hopeful words of Psalm 130—and God heard their prayer. He lovingly sent Jesus, the very one who would redeem them from their sin.

Jesus—fully human, just like you and me. How did he save his people from their sin? By dying on the cross. A truly gruesome way to die. But this is what he did because he loved his people—his family.

Advent is a time of longing for God’s people to be unified. For hope of a renewed world without war or disease or death. For peace to fill the earth. For the unfettered joy that all of this will bring.

Advent is a time for longing for Jesus—love personified. Longing for him to return, to set all wrongs right (in a mind-blowing way that doesn’t create more wrongs that need to be made right).

Advent is a time for love to be clear for all to see. If Jesus is love personified, and if we are as he is in this world (1 John 4:17), then we must spread the love of Jesus everywhere we go. If we do this, we will experience the hope and peace and joy and love that Advent causes us to long for in greater measures every day. When we experience this hope and peace and joy and love, we will radiate it out into our world and those we encounter will also experience it. And when they ask us about it, we can ask them, “Have you met Jesus?” and our faith will be believed because it is more than just words.

This is how the kingdom of God spreads. This is why Jesus came in a manger in the darkness, growing up in relative obscurity. He didn’t need the pomp and circumstance of a king because his is a kingdom of love—not political maneuvering. This is why he interacted with the common people, working a common job, eating and drinking with everyman and everywoman. He came to create a family, not a political movement.

This family—this “people” that Jesus came to save—is his genetic family: Israel (Romans 9:4-5). Do we love our families of origin enough to witness to them so they can be saved? Often, we think witnessing has to be vocal, but some people love talking, so arguing with people about religion can actually end up being the opposite of witnessing. Other people are shy and hate talking to people, and for them living a quiet life might not be enough to convince their families of the beauty of Jesus. We must consider both our own proclivities and the proclivities of the people we seek to reach in our witnessing efforts. And we must love them enough to seek their eternal good by letting them know about the hope and peace and joy and love found in Jesus.

And even when we’re separated from our families of origin—or if we’ve recently lost some of them—this is the beauty of Jesus’ family. Wherever we might walk through the doors of a church—there is our family. The family that survives throughout time and space and eternity.

If you’re feeling alone this Advent season, get to know Jesus, and let him introduce you to a new (to you) member of his family. Christmas can be better this year than ever before!

Consider the following this Christmas season:

• Who needs the hope and peace and joy of love of Jesus in your family of origin?
• Who sinned against you that you need to forgive and show love to this Christmas?
• How connected are you to Jesus’ family?

In this with you.

Thanks for reading.