Sunday, March 26, 2006

Many people today are desperately searching for deeper meaning in this Christmas. Now, more than ever, they recognize they need it, not just for themselves or those they love. They need it for the sake of the thousands of chairs that will sit empty on Christmas Day.

For me, Christmas has always been about the bonds of family. As tied up in the memories of Christ's birth as it has been, Christmas has always marked a chance to let any petty arguments and clashes fade away in unity. Prayer, reciting Luke 2, lighting the advent candles -- I realized as I was driving towards home that I welcomed the chance to play football with my younger brother nearly as much as those traditional reminders of the babe in the manger. Thus far, the reunion has not disappointed. My brother had set up his Nintendo with a "Christmas" match ready for us both, with Mary, Joseph, The Babe, The Shepherds, and the Beasts of the Field as our teammates.

Perhaps it is not just the non-Christian that is searching for meaning. Perhaps it is those of us Christians as well, who have let something, anything, even a thing as precious as family prevent us from acknowledging the truth.

The meaning of Christmas this year is about two things. It is dedicated to the memory of those who are not with us -- and the fulfilled promise of reconciliation from the One who never leaves us, nor forsakes us. It is a solemn day. It is a day of rejoicing. It is holy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor and martyr under the tyranny of the Third Reich, wrote against and lived against the "cheap grace that devalues sin and forgiveness alike."

"Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the Love of God taught as the 'Christian conception' of God ... Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without repentance ... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

...we exist "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with (Ben's new employer)."