Blue Christmas

I've shared this brief reflection with several parishioners who have lost loved ones this year at Christmas or in years past. Pass it along if it's of use to you or those you love... ~ Mark+

In Advent, the Sunday readings follow two tracks. We are look to the coming of Jesus in this season – a both a newborn babe and as our returning savior. We warm to the story of the infant Jesus, born in a stable in first century Palestine. And we contemplate the return of Jesus our Savior in glory at the end of days. Both events (or advents) are integral parts of the Advent and Christmas season.

It’s easy to remain centered in the infant Jesus story. It’s a sweet and moving and comforting story. A child is born; shepherds and astrologers herald the birth. Cattle are lowing, and children are captivated by Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But there’s another side of the story.

This story of birth will end in death. This newborn will suffer a horrible public execution. He will be hung on a cross by the side of the road out of town – humiliated, abandoned, forsaken by his most loyal followers.

But truly, the story doesn’t end there. For this death is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of a new story. Jesus’ resurrection rewrites the usual narrative, and thereby all our stories are changed. We know that like Christ we are born to die – and we know that like Christ we die to rise again.

So it is appropriate that at Advent we hear from the prophets how the goats will be culled from the sheep, how the wheat and the chaff will be winnowed, and how the last things are coming. But with the last things come the things that last – a life eternal in the many mansions that Christ prepares for us even now.

People who experience death and loss during the Advent and Christmas seasons have a deeper, truer, more profound understanding of the complexity of the Christmas story. Unlike their friends and neighbors, they are often reminded of the end of life when all else seems to be focused on the life’s beginnings, children, and the many innocent joys and celebrations of the season.

Those who mourn as well as celebrate during this time of year are closer to the true meaning of the season. Christ was born, and that is a great joy to us. But Christ also died, and died for us, for our salvation. Christ then rose again to save us all from eternal death. This season is about the gift of life and about the loss of life – because to gain eternal life we must be born and we must die. To gain all that God has in store for us, we must lose as well.

© The Rev. Mark Robin Collins