This was our grandson, playing with my childhood nativity scene two Christmases ago.
His favorite parts were the sheep and the 'baby cheesus' <3
I heard a really amazing concept explained in a sermon
at the Christmas Eve service we attended on Saturday evening...
In the midst of telling the traditional Christmas story
and sharing exactly WHY it was that
God came to live among us as a man, born of a woman, in a stable,
on a night that we celebrate as Christmas,
the pastor offered this insight:
"You see, we are, by nature, RULE BREAKERS. It's in our DNA. Someone tells us we CAN'T do something, we say "Oh YEAH? WATCH me!" There are laws of the land that we habitually break because we feel they are absurd or inappropriate or ineffective, or simply that they just do not apply to US. Pick one - speeding, passing on the right, jaywalking.... ;0)"
At this point, the congregation laughed softly - that kind of laugh that says "uh oh, he's on to me".
He continued: "We, of course, violate spiritual laws, laws that God has put into place. That is our sin. That is why we are in need of forgiveness from Him. Most of us know this. That's not really what I want to talk about tonight. I want to talk about the laws we impose on OURSELVES, and then BREAK."
Silence. He smiled.
"Oh, I see... you don't think you do this. Let's see.... today is December 24th, correct?"
The congregation nodded in agreement, still silent.
"What will you be doing in seven days? On December 31st?"
A small ripple of nervous laughter began to move through the sanctuary. They knew what was coming.
"Oh, that's right..... you'll be making 'promises' to yourself, and to others. You'll call them 'Resolutions'. But what they REALLY are is a new set of LAWS that you are imposing on yourself: Eat better, eat less, exercise more, save more, spend less, give more, take less, get a new job... whatever these things are that you decide you are no longer happy with in life, or feel guilty that you have NOT been doing, you are going to follow the time-honored ritual of turning the changes into New Years Resolutions. And do you know what HAPPENS, a few weeks or months later?"
Silence again.
"Of course you do! You're going to break one, two, some, most, or ALL of those 'laws'. Because it's in your nature to do so. You're going into this thinking that it's hard, it's unfair, it's not what you want to do, but for your own good you HAVE to do it. That's just like the laws you don't like to follow, the rules you break in life. Because it's opposite to your nature."
"And by repeatedly setting yourself up this way, you are repeatedly setting yourself up to FAIL. And then you can't forgive yourself for not being thinner, richer, more secure, more stable, or whatever it is that you REALLY wanted to change. So instead of getting closer to those things, you get further AWAY from them. Every time you try and fail, you make it harder to forgive yourself."
The assembly nodded nearly in unison, looking at him and each other as if little light bulbs had just been illuminated over every one of their heads.
He concluded "God knows this! It's WHY He became a man. He knows our weaknesses, our failures, our intentions, our nature. He knows we try - and fail sometimes. He knows how we beat ourselves up over those failures. He came, as a baby in a manger, born of a woman, because He wanted to show us His Love. His Acceptance. His Forgiveness."
"The thing is, it's a GIFT. We can not do ANYTHING to earn it from Him.
No matter how good and right and rich and stable and thin and healthy we are - or aren't - our worth never changes in His eyes, or His heart. No matter how many awful or lawless things we have done, we are still able to receive his Love and Forgiveness. His forgiveness was offered when He, as His Son, in human form, took on our sinful human nature himself and died on the cross to pay the fines for our unlawlessness, our rebellion, our willfulness."
"And has not God said to us that we are to forgive others, as He forgives US? Yes, He has. So the charge is to forgive YOURSELVES. Realize that if Almighty God can look upon you with love and forgiveness, and absolve you of your guilt and shame and sin, and reminded you of your great and immeasurable worth to Him, then He has asked and empowered you to forgive others and your SELF in this same way. It's not YOUR forgiveness - it's HIS. He gives it to each of us, to pass on. To share. To multiply. To embody."
"Especially at a time of year when we need that more than any new exercise regimen or diet. Once we have forgiven ourselves for past failures and mistakes, we can more clearly see what it is we need and WANT to do to make our lives and selves what we want and need to be to serve Him. Once we are certain of our worth to God Almighty, we can no longer doubt that we are worth a chance to change and improve. It's not about obtaining perfection, but about accepting forgiveness for our inability to achieve it. We can't do it on our own. But HE can do it for us. We just have to accept that gift. The gift of Forgiveness, and Worth, and Value. That's why He came to earth, born of a woman, in a manger, on a night we celebrate as Christmas."
Silence again.
He said a bit more, but that's what my brain clung to. There is a message in there that I sorely needed to hear right now in my life. And perhaps at this time of year, we ALL need to remember that holding on to our past failures, guilt, sorrow, hurt, pain, and shame - as well as that we experience in relationships with others - is not only preventing us from moving forward and accepting all of the wonderful things yet to come, it is very nearly a refusal of the forgiveness that God so generously and openly offers us.
It's certainly an issue I am dealing with right now -
forgiving myself so that I can be clear, and forgive others.
What I took away from this young pastor's sermon on Christmas Eve was that I don't need to find, manufacture, drum up, or create that forgiveness for myself and others. God gave it to me already. I just have to accept the gift, unwrap it, revel in its wholeness, and then share it.
That's a Resolution I can follow. <3
