The Signs of the Season: A Christmas Reflection
The other day my daughter Molly asked, “Who took down the Christmas tree?” When I turned and looked, sure enough — it was gone. In the busyness of the day, I had walked right past the place where our tree had been for weeks and hadn’t even noticed it wasn’t there. My youngest daughter Mikenna, on her own initiative, had saved us a ton of time by taking down all the Christmas decorations throughout the house. And even though I think of myself as a fairly observant individual, in this case I didn’t notice until it was pointed out to me.
Sometimes we don’t see the things that are right in front of us. We need someone to point them out to us.
Even though the Christmas season has come and gone, we are still in the opening cycle of the Church Calendar, which is a Season of Light. The Church Calendar is the ancient Church’s way of transforming time around the Jesus Story.
The opening cycle contains three parts:
Advent, which is the four weeks of anticipation leading up to Christmas Day;
Christmas, which is actually celebrated over twelve days (thus “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song); and
Epiphany (Greek: appearance, manifestation), observed on January 6th, which remembers the arrival of the wise men to Jerusalem to worship the newly born king, Jesus. So while our gifts have probably all been given and our decorations likely have been put away, let’s not walk by and miss the ongoing opportunities Jesus’ birth brings to us.
The Christmas season is the Season of Light. And light illuminates the darkness — it helps us see.
The opening Prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18) tells us that when the eternal Word became flesh in the Advent of Jesus that light came into the world. The light of God came into our darkness so that we might be able to see a better way.
In Luke’s account of the Nativity (Luke 2:1-20), the shepherds were given a sign from the angel of the Lord. It was a visible symbol that would help them identify the recently-born child who is none other than “the Messiah, the Lord.”
Matthew’s account ties the birth of Jesus to Isaiah’s “Emmanuel” prophecy about a virgin conceiving and giving birth to a son. In its ancient context, the prophetic message was a sign of the Lord’s presence among his people to deliver them from the hand of their oppressors. The birth of Jesus was meant to be the same: A visible symbol of the Lord’s presence to save his people from their sins.
Jesus is the good news of *Emmanuel* – “God with us.” His birth is the ultimate sign of God's presence among His people.
The Son of God is the sign of the salvation of God.
Christmas is a season of seeing. If we are attentive to it, it can be a season where we open our eyes to the signs that are all around us – the visible, tangible symbols of the nearness of the Lord to us and His ongoing promise to save us into his kingdom of love.
So how can we put on the spiritual lenses that will give us this kind of sight? Simply, look for where Jesus has been. More specifically, look for the ongoing effects of Jesus’ impact in the world.
Throughout the sacred Scriptures, salvation is more than “going to heaven when we die.” Instead, salvation is God’s ongoing work to “set the world right” through Jesus. It is God’s unswerving commitment to rescue the world and renew it and restore it to the fullness of everything it was meant to be. This was embodied and enacted in the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Jesus began the work of “making all things new” (Rev 21:5; Isa 43:18-19), and this work continues to this very day.
This means if you want to see the signs of God’s saving work in the world, look for the fruits of Jesus’ work in the lives of human beings. The signs of God’s saving work are the fruits of the Spirit of Jesus alive and active in the lives of people. This means where you see love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control, you are seeing the signs of God’s salvation brought into the world through Jesus.
The signs are all around us, if we only have eyes to see.
I saw it the other day at the gym. One of the trainers — a young, probably college-aged girl — was working with an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair. As they were slowly walking the track, he would use his walker for as long as he could, then he would sit back in his wheelchair until he was ready to go again. As she was helping him with his workout, she was taking a genuine interest in the details of his life. She was listening to him, asking him questions, and engaging with his story. She was showing him genuine kindness. As I observed this taking place, I was deeply moved — I was seeing a sign of God’s saving work in the lives of people.
The signs are all around us, if we only have eyes to see.
Where compassion toward another hurting human is shown…
Where kindness is put on display…
Where generosity is given…
Where goodness flourishes…
Where love abounds…
These are the signs of the salvation of God that come through the Son of God.
Where relationships are reconciled…
Where forgiveness flows…
Where peace prospers…
Where wars cease…
Where all things are being made new…
These are the signs of the salvation of God that come through the Son of God.
The list goes on and on. You can add to it.
Where are you seeing the signs of God’s salvation all around you?
It is too easy to go about our daily lives and miss the things that are right in front of us. Ask the Lord to give you the spiritual sight to see the signs of salvation all around you. Cultivate a more contemplative life in Christ, and watch as you become more aware to his ongoing presence and work in the world.
May the signs of the season lead you deeper into the salvation brought to us through Jesus.
