Hope, Peace, Joy and Love...or Not?

What if Christmas doesn't feel like this? Am I a horrible Christ-follower?

This time of year is filled with so much hustle and bustle. Stores are busy, online shopping and home delivery are overrun. Super Markets and other Grocery stores are running out of certain items that are "norms" for a majority of people this time of year, making for grumpy attitudes out in the world. Do you know what place is often emptier right now compared to years past? The church!

This time of year is supposed to be about happiness, joy, peace, love and hope. What happens to those that cannot seem to find those feelings or cannot identify with them? What happens when the folks that are struggling this holiday season are our own brothers and sisters? What happens when those struggling this holiday season are our own leaders?

Let there be light and let there be hope

Let there be dreams you never let go

Let there be laughter, let there be songs

Let there be loved ones singing along

Lights and Christmas go hand in hand for many reasons. Obviously, Christmas lights are hung in and around our homes, local businesses, and in our communities. Personally, I love to drive around and take a look at differing displays and enjoy the beauty from the lights. Something about seeing Christmas lights in the dark does help boost my spirit. Light needs to be part of our lives both literally and spiritually. Without light, we cannot operate. Darkness is something that can consume us. Light is essential to how we operate because it can alter our moods and affect our emotions, it can change the feeling in a room or create a specific atmosphere.

As human beings, we often take light for granted. There is one specific light that is so important. This light is often misused or forgotten all together. Some people choose to pretend this light doesn't exist or even worse, they have extinguished this light from their lives. This particular light is eternal, as long as we choose to keep the flame alive in our lives. You may be thinking, what light is she talking about? That light is Jesus.

700+ years prophets foretold this Messiah that was to come. He was going to be this fierce and powerful warrior who would save God's people. This Messiah would be Wonderful; would be a counselor; would be the Everlasting Father; would be the Prince of Peace. He would be called Immanuel, meaning God with Us. This Messiah would be the light. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” During the advent season, it is easy to get so distracted with the literal lights of Christmas Decorations and forget about the beautiful light that came to us that divine evening.

Christmas is a season of hope. Hope is something that is difficult to hold on to if the light is dim. As someone with a background in Spiritual Counseling, I have often heard families or patients refer to holding on to that ray of hope or the light of hope. A ray of hope or a light of hope is something that makes you feel slightly happier or more hopeful in a difficult situation. I can sit here and go on all day long about how we have Jesus, and he is our source of light and hope. Cognitively I know this to be true. In my heart I know this to be true. It doesn't mean that I do not struggle with darkness, and it doesn't mean that I do not struggle with lack of hope. I am a Pastor. I am a Spiritual Caregiver. I struggle with hope, especially this time of year. I know I am not the only one. It is hard to be a teacher, caregiver, counselor/advisor. It is even more so during this time of year. I look out across the pews on any given Sunday, and I watch as they are not as full as they once were. I blame myself for the fact that I see the universal church dying because I am part of the leadership that should be fixing it. It is hard to watch members of my church family (universally speaking) struggle and I can't fix it. It is hard to sit down and write messages that are supposed to uplift people and inspire people when I look at the world and see the heaviness of mankind all around us.

This doesn't mean my faith doesn't exist. This doesn't mean that I do not have hope for a change. It means that I am human, and I struggle. It means that I have to fight that much harder to communicate with the God I serve. It means I have to check myself and be kind to myself. It means that I have to hold on to those I love more than ever because time is precious.

"He shall be known as Wonder, Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Peace. The Prince of Peace. This being would make peace. This being would make peace ESPECIALLY between God and mankind. A theologian names John Calvin wrote: “Whenever, in short, it appears to us that everything is in a ruinous condition, let us recall to our remembrance that Christ is called Wonderful, because he has inconceivable methods of assisting us, and because his power is far beyond what we are able to conceive. When we need counsel, let us remember that he is the Counselor. When we need strength, let us remember that he is Mighty and Strong. When new terrors spring up suddenly every instant, and when many deaths threaten us from various quarters, let us rely on that eternity of which he is with good reason called the Father, and by the same comfort let us learn to soothe all temporal distresses. When we are inwardly tossed by various tempests, and when Satan attempts to disturb our consciences, let us remember that Christ is The Prince of Peace, and that it is easy for him quickly to allay all our uneasy feelings. Thus, will these titles confirm us more and more in the faith of Christ, and fortify us against Satan and against hell itself.”

Peace is a main component of the Advent season for Christ-Followers. Yet, how can we sit there and be so hypocritical about this? Does Peace mean going to a store and being rude to employees when a product we want is out of stock? Does peace mean getting angry and being mean to folks that might put decorations up or advertise something we don't agree with? Does peace mean honking at other drivers because we are so impatient that our needs matter more than someone else’s? (Yes, I am guilty of this one) Peace is just that, peace. Peace is supposed to be us being the non-anxious presence to those dealing with turmoil. Peace is supposed to be us giving our fear to God because we are to not be troubled. Let God walk with you and guide you so that your fear doesn't consume you. Peace means being willing to break down barriers that divide us, not putting them up because we don't like something someone else says or does. Peace takes work. Peace isn't something that comes easily. This time of year, many individuals are without peace. What can you do to help someone that needs peace in their life?

"I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart; down in my heart; I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart; down in my heart to stay!"

I can't tell you the number of times I see the word Joy everywhere I look this time of year. From stores to community light displays, ornaments, shirts, etc., it is everywhere. What is Joy? Joy is this good feeling that is produced within us by the Holy Spirit. Joy is seeing the beauty of Jesus in the fulfillment of God's promises, in the Word, and in all Jesus has done. Joy is being Spiritually alive. Without the promise of Jesus; without Jesus coming as God incarnate; without Jesus taking the sins of the world to the cross; we would be spiritually dead. That may seem harsh and blunt, but that is our reality.

Jesus is the reason for the season, as many would say in our faith tradition. If this is true, then why do we spend so much time complaining about things that don't matter? Why do we focus so much on worldly things and issues that take the joy of the season away? What about people that are hurting, homeless, losing loved ones, without jobs? What are we doing for those that are struggling to find joy in the season? What about the leaders in our faith tradition that are running on empty and feel they have nowhere to turn? Are we caring for them as they try to care for us? We have brothers and sisters that celebrate this season with us and do not feel joy. What can you do for someone else?

"Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine; Love was born at Christmas; stars and angels gave the sign." Love is probably one of the biggest parts of the Advent and Lent seasons. They both tie in together with Love at the very center of it. Jesus came to earth as God incarnate because He loves us. Jesus walked among our ancestors, taught them the principle of love by loving his neighbors just as God loves us. Jesus’ friends and loved men, women and children, knowing they would betray him. Jesus sacrificed his body on the cross so that we would be forgiven and given new life and new chances each day we open our eyes. That, my dear friends, is true love. This newborn that came into the world in fulfillment of prophecy was a gift to us, that gift was love.

If love is the gift that we were given, why do we find it so hard to love one another, especially this time of year? Why can't we learn that even if someone doesn't think, act, believe, the way we do that we can still love them because God loves us? Why do we feel the need to feed into these divisions happening around our world, especially within our own country, because hate is apparently easier than love? Do you realize how much more energy you use fueling hatred than you do with love? Do you realize how much more energy you waste in holding grudges than you do when you offer forgiveness? You don't have to like everyone. If you choose to love everyone through the way you choose to respond to them, you free yourself from darkness that will drag you down and make you miserable. When you choose to love someone, despite your feelings on what they should be doing, you allow room for God to work through you to them. What can you do to love someone differently this season?

Christmas is a season of hope, peace, joy and love. Those four things are not always easy. It takes work to put those four things into practice on a daily basis. I challenge you to think about the ways you can really focus on Hope, Peace, Joy and Love for the remainder of the Advent season. I also challenge you to carry these four principles with you as you go about your daily life.

Merry Christmas.