by M.S. Lindsey

Created on: December 16, 2006   Last Updated: May 18, 2010

At least one Christmas party this season brought me to where I know my heart belongs. The party was not the office small-talk, mob-like gathering, centered and designed around our plastic culture. No, I stood in that room free from the awkward oppression of the pompous and shallow meandering that takes place when one is entrenched in the a typical American Christmas gathering. The party was not about the wine, or the eggnog, nor the other cordials or food, and it was not necessarily about who was at the party, though the fellowship runs deep. At that party we shared a common bond of truth and purpose that overwhelmed any other flat and hollow design. We worshiped together, the Lord, the one who disrupted the flow of the universe in a single earthly breath and would prove to disrupt all of humanity from that illuminating instant forward.

That party brought a light and hope back into my heart, a light that bends through the darkness that our culture has draped over the hearts and eyes of millions and millions of people. Every season we stand in lines and fight and worry and stress and cry and wonder how we will "make it through the season", and all the while a deeper purpose is overlooked. The irony is that we have desperately spent our strength by trying to "create" a season of peace, joy and love instead of reveling in what has already been given us through the birth and life of Jesus.

As we sang, and the lovely chorus rose in the cold December night, I was reminded that hope cannot simply be a seed in our hearts, but must be a root. A root embedded in the truth of why we live and breath and why we celebrate Christmas. It ignited a burning passion in my heart to let go of society's way, the cultural norm, and the fixation on this worldly season and everything that distracts us from purity.

It is a call for all those who claim to be under the name of Jesus to be oracles that will reflect brightly the image and character of the Messiah. We are called to not only live in the hope of Christ, but to live it so well that his love emanates from us like fragrant incense to the heart of our culture, a culture which lacks the strength to believe that there is more. This time of year has been plagued by idols and things, ultimately stress and pain, deeper debt, loneliness for multitudes, instead of hope and peace and life and goodwill and care and help and miracles. For that day Christ took in his first breath and we were given life; hope was born.

There is a purity and simplicity to this season that we have all discarded with our crumpled ribbons and bows. It was and is about a gift given to us and not anything that we can give back or even relate to, but a gift that transcends all that we know. That gift was Jesus. That gift IS Jesus. And I saw it that night at the party as our voices lifted from the gray world and wove around the throne of the most high. It was a proclamation of the promise given to us, heaven given to us, heaven near us, and heaven in us.

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