Advent Peace in Holiday Busyness
The year was 2017. It was my husband’s and my first Christmas as a married couple. We had not yet been blessed with children and COVID-19 hadn’t become a part of everyone’s daily vocabulary. So we Christmas partied with the best of them.
I distinctly remember the first two weeks of December FILLED with things to do - there were work holiday parties, the town Christmas parade, an annual cookie exchange. It seemed like every single night we had something to do. If we weren’t actively going to another function, we were spending our evenings shopping for white elephant gifts or baking cookies for the next get-together.
By the time Christmas Day had arrived, I was exhausted. The holiday hurriedness was running me ragged. It was a relief when December 26th came and our schedule was back to normal.
Of course now, our Christmas season looks a little different. With the arrival of our children came an earlier bed time, taking us out of the running for last minute get-togethers or late night dinner parties. Christmas 2020 was a whole different animal with Zoom family Christmas’ and online mug exchanges. But even in the middle of a pandemic, I still felt the busyness of the Christmas season. It seemed like every free moment was devoted to putting up decorations, baking another batch of cookies, or bracing the cold for some outdoor Christmas magic for Selah.
Everything I’ve mentioned - the parties, traditions, baking - are all good things. I have extremely happy memories associated with many of these moments.
But what I’m starting to discover about myself (and I don’t think I’m alone) is how easily I allow these good things to take the primary focus of my life. It is so easy to overcommit and over-schedule that by the time we’ve sprinted through the Advent season, it feels like we’ve missed something.
As we discussed yesterday, the peace that Advent proclaims is an eternal peace with God that goes against all reason. It is a peace not one of us deserves, but that every believer has been gifted. This gift was promised to God’s children long ago and was beautifully delivered in a manger in Bethlehem.
This gift is cause for much celebration! It is a good thing to enjoy Christmas parties! There is a reason that this is the most wonderful time of the year!
But I fear we have elevated the celebration over the gift.
We pack our schedules with Christmas party after Christmas party and stretch ourselves thin that we find ourselves weary at the end.
This is not what Advent is meant to be.
Take a moment and read through this picture of what our Savior has done for us:
“Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5
The Savior that was born in Bethlehem took upon the punishment that brought us this glorious peace. He took on our griefs, carried our sorrows, and was crushed because of our sin. This sacrifice gives us peace with God. This free gift given to us is UNBELIEVABLE!
And yet, I have spent too many Christmas’ to count too busy to realize it. I make this season all about the celebration and forget to marvel and worship at the reason we’re all celebrating in the first place.
Let’s not miss out this year on the peace we’ve been given. I encourage you to take time each day to pause in worship. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying multiple Christmas activities and parties, it may be worth reassessing our December calendars. If all of our energies are focused on one event after another, we are selling ourselves short.
The peace with God that we were given so long ago is worth celebrating! But we would be wise to not let the busyness our celebrating can create overshadow the gift we’ve been given. So let’s be intentional with our time and worship our heavenly Father for sending us the Prince of Peace.
