Merry Christmases – and Tidings of Great Joy

Unbound sponsor Larry Livingston reflects on the many ways we experience Christmas, and how we can truly connect the holiday with our faith. 

Long ago I reconciled myself to the fact that there’s more than one Christmas. 

There’s the Christmas that goes largely unspoken, the one folded into the amorphous “holiday season.” 

There’s the Christmas of Santa Claus and elves and Rudolph, precious to children. 

There’s the Christmas of the heart woven from family, tradition, and warm memories.  

And there’s the Christmas of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the wondrous tale of angels, shepherds, a young couple who put all their trust in God, and the miraculous Child they brought into the world. 

Christmas of faith 

Most of us, I imagine, navigate through all these Christmases, and that’s fine as long as we ultimately land on the Christmas of faith. But even then, if our appreciation of what happened in Judea all those centuries ago ends with the sweet baby in the manger, we’re missing something important.  

So, perhaps there’s one more Christmas to reflect upon, one stripped of sentimentality and even a little sad because it reminds us that the Baby in the manger would grow up to die a horrible and cruel death. This is the Christmas we’d rather not think about, the Christmas of the Incarnation, the Christmas of what it truly meant for God to take on human flesh and all that comes with it. 

Can these truly be tidings of great joy? 

The angels said they brought tidings of great joy. Can this be that? Can it really be true that God entering into a world of hardship, weakness and oppression is good news?  

Yes, because the life of Christ would show us that we are more than that. 

Jesus taught us, in word and action, what a free human life looks like. In Him we have a model of human potential fully realized, lived with love and generosity, not held down by appetite or ego or fear. It’s a model that inspires nobility of spirit in people like Unbound sponsors who share their blessings with families in the program, and those same families who, every day, work to turn hardship into hope. 

Jesus would suffer and, yes, He would die. But death would not be the end for Him. Nor is it for us, and those are indeed happy tidings. 

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll be entering into the story of Jesus the man and messiah soon enough. For now, let’s just say Merry Christmas. 

Or, if you prefer, Merry Christmases. 

Please pray:

God of wonder, God of might, God of angels and kings and peasants, we praise You. In the Incarnation of Your Son You entered into a marriage with humanity that has forever elevated us. Help us live as He did, serve as He did and, when called upon, pour out our lives in love as He did. We ask this in Your most holy Name. Amen. 

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Copyright 2024 Larry Livingston for Unbound
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