From Our Family To Yours, Merry Christmas!
I have spent a good bit of time thinking about the significance of Christ’s coming in terms of our lives today. It continues to be wayyyyy more significant than I ever imagined.
We have a good many holidays where we remember and honor the birth of great leaders from history. For some we even have specific days set aside to honor their memory and express gratitude for their contribution. Growing up, that is how I thought about Christmas. It was a day that we remembered and honored the memory of a very special man who was born 2000+ years ago. He was important because he taught people a better way to live. It was the way of love. Great message. But in my mind that is about as far as it went.
As I got older, I realized that there was a pretty significant gap between my personal understanding of the holiday and the way the church talked about it. At my family’s church Christmas was obviously a big deal. There were special services and elaborate decorations. But why? Even if Jesus was a very special person with a unique approach to life, how would that (should that?) impact my life today? That was never clear to me. Until my life needed a radical transformation.
At the time I needed it most – I saw that what we celebrate at Christmas is more than a historic event. It is the initiation of a new kind of spiritual reality. What we see at Christmas is a physical picture of a spiritual reality. In the same way that Jesus left the glory of heaven to come to earth in the form of a baby, so now God wants to be born afresh in our own hearts and lives. He is willing to enter our personal mess in the same way he entered the world’s mess. And in the same way he showed the people of his day how to live differently, he can now be my own personal guide on how I can live differently (better) here and now.
Jesus opened a door, both through his life as he lived it and his death on the cross as he gave himself to it. That decision made a real relationship with God possible. I can do more than remember him. I can actually walk with him and he with me. And even though that initial discovery happened 45 years ago, I am still profoundly moved by it. I am a different man, not just because Jesus came into the world many years ago. I am a different man, because he willingly walked into the mess of my life, forgave me of my sin and set my feet on a different path.
This is why we celebrate with such enthusiasm. This is why many songs and hymns have been written about this holiday and his coming to earth. I am not alone in the experience of spiritual transformation. I am just one of many. And maybe you are too. And my pray for us all is that the wonder and significance of what he did and what that means for us today, will hit with fresh impact and joy this year.
Merry Christmas!
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The Van Waarde Foundation underwrites and supports a variety of projects and team members committed to supporting, educating, and encouraging fellow cancer warriors and their families. As we look to the future, we are excited about creating a variety of new resources that will provide pastoral support to those battling cancer. This initiative will include this newsletter AND a host of other resources including a new podcast providing helpful information on health and fitness, fresh pocket prayers delivered daily to fellow cancer warriors, a new page on the website “heal” Heal – Piet Van Waarde with weekly reflections on navigating the “dailyness” of the journey, plus a soon-coming book Keep on Healing that will address the top 50 questions people face when confronted by a cancer diagnosis. We want to make these resources available at little/no cost to those who need them, and your support through the Foundation (https://www.patreon.com/pietvanwaarde) makes that possible.
Thank you in advance for your prayerful consideration.
What a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas, Piet… not simply remembering the birth of Jesus, but also the significance of his birth and the transformation that can take place in our lives. I love what you say here, “I am a different man, because he willingly walked into the mess of my life, forgave me of my sin and set my feet on a different path.” I am a different woman because of Jesus.