Longing for More at Christmas

Do you ever feel caught between your highest aspirations and the demands of daily life?  Have you ever been frustrated by your inability to reach your dreams for a better world because of the need to buy groceries, cook supper, wash the dishes, bathe the children, get them to bed before you sink into the couch exhausted from the work-a-day routines? Anybody know what I’m talking about?

          The Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes tells us that God has planted the notion of eternity in our minds (3:11), yet we can’t fully know the breadth and depth of God’s plans.  So much remains a mystery.  I think that means that we have a God-planted yearning for God’s will to be done but we are limited in our ability to fully see or do that will.  As pastor of a church I am always caught between what we are as a congregation and what we could be.  I see the gap between the two.  For that matter, I see the gap between what I am and what I hope to be, and I am often frustrated by the distance - frustrated with myself.

          Amy Grant had a popular song many years ago, “My Grown-Up Christmas Wish,” in which she voiced her highest aspirations, “No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, that time would heal all hearts.”  Each Christmas we are drawn to noble yearnings but also constrained by demands of family gatherings, gift buying, and a list of have-to-dos.  Christmas comes as both bane and blessing for so many of us, as we confront the gap between the Christmas of our dreams versus the Christmas with which we end up.

          All the more reason to take time in Advent, this period of preparation before Christmas, to give thanks for the Savior who comes to us, not only at Christmas but also every day, to fill the gap.  Christ Jesus is the Incarnation , the embodiment of our highest aspirations, and in him we behold the promise of great joy which will be for all people.  In him we see our deepest yearnings for peace, justice, and good will made flesh and dwelling among us.  At the cross we find mercy for our failure to live up to our own noblest desires, and perhaps at the manger we find strength to strive for better.  As you observe a holy Advent season, be thankful for a Savior who fills the gap between what is and what is yet to come, between what we are and what we will become, by grace.