1. Every year I love going home for Christmas. So do many of you. I know what to expect, I know I will be loved, and I know someone is there waiting for me. The meals, the downtime, the not-so-downtime: all of it beckons me with comfort and familiarity. This homecoming feels right, according to Piper, because it is a foretaste of the ultimate Homecoming to our eternal home, with eternal comfort, to be eternally loved by One waiting for us.
A warning, though: "All the other homecomings are foretastes. And foretastes are good. Unless they become substitutes. O, don't let all the sweet things of this season become substitutes of the final great, all-satisfying Sweetness." May all our homecomings be blessed foretastes that remind us of Home, not distract us from it.
2. When Christ was born, there were two kinds of people who didn't worship him, just as there are now. First, there were people like Herod, who didn't worship because they saw Jesus as a great threat. Today, many refuse to worship out of fear of the same thing - the fear of Jesus threatening their autonomy, their sovereignty over their own lives. Seeking to avoid being dethroned, they refuse to worship.
The other kind were the chief priests and scribes who knew exactly what was going on and did nothing anyway. In Matthew 2:4 it is these individuals who are asked by Herod where the Messiah is to be born. They know the answer and tell him. They know the Messiah is being born and they know where it's happening. That's a pretty big deal. Imagine knowing and doing nothing. Unfortunately, it doesn't require much imagination. For we know what happened, we schedule an entire season to celebrate, and often we make Christ an afterthought, a nonentity in Christmas.
3. For many, Christmas is a time of mixed emotions. While there is abundant celebration,the time brings sorrow for those who are missing those they often celebrate with. Rather than attempting to ignore the feelings or brush them away, Piper suggests embracing them, for Jesus came to love us in a way that amplifies life and love: "Many of you will feel your loss this Christmas more pointedly than before. Don't block it out. Let it come. Feel it. What is love for, if not to intensify our affections - both in life and death? But, O, do not be bitter. It is tragically self-destructive to be bitter."
This will be my last post before Christmas. I'm off for about 5 straight days of celebrating starting on Saturday. Merry Christmas, thanks for reading, and I hope you'll check back in after your own celebrations.
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