December 28th…. All is Calm…. All is Cloudy…. My house still looks like a wrapping paper factory exploded. Well, not quite that bad …there are boxes and random gifts that need to find their place in my space. The kid’s nativity has taken a beating… one of the wise men is face down and off to the side.
I think about a few days after the first Christmas. The angels had winged back to their Realms of Glory, the Shepherds returned to watching their flocks… and Mary and Joseph sat somewhere, maybe still in the stable, with a baby.
This side of Christmas is where the work begins. Party over…. the “wise men” looking for the baby now had to work for it. They had to follow a star, a long ways. “Bearing gifts we traverse afar” Across fields, around fountains, through moors (a tract of open uncultivated upland; a heath) and over mountain”. But there was a baby to be found and they were determined to find him. This side of Christmas is hard work.
We sit here on this side of Christmas and reflect on the party. I wish I would have done this, or bought this gift, or not that. Or why did they do that or say that? Some are at home today licking their wounds or perhaps wounding their licks… “why did I say that?”, “that was stupid…” And beating ourselves up.
This side of Christmas is where the work begins. Party over. Now comes the hard work, the clean up, the search for the baby. The commitment to find Him…. not just go on with life as usual… but look for him. Look for him in the aftermath of the explosion of Christmas. Do whatever it takes… fields, fountains, moors mountains… follow the yonder star.
The Christmas Story as written in the book of John chapter 1 cuts right to the chase… In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Even after the party the Word made flesh and lived among us. The baby was there… a few days after Christmas the baby was still there and there to stay. The light shined in the darkness and those that worked to find him, found him.
Even in the mess. The Christmas explosion that seems to take forever to get back together. He became flesh and dwelt among us. He was found because He was a light in the darkness. He can still be found, this side of Christmas, because He is a light in the darkness. If you read John chapter 1 you will see in verse 14 the best part of all… Jesus was full of GRACE and TRUTH. Two things we desperately need when we are working hard to find him. Truth, because we need to know it… it is the Amazing Truth that sets His birth apart. And GRACE… because it is His Amazing Grace upon Grace that saves us. Grace that finds us even when we can’t seem to find Him.
This side of Christmas is hard work… but the good news that brings great JOY is still here. Jesus, is still here! Not physically, but His Words, His powerful Words that are full of Truth and Grace are still here. Read the entire book of John… and see how those that looked for Him found Him. He is a light shining in the darkness and living among us. Read the powerful story of His life… maybe even in one sitting. It’s really the beginning of the story of life on this side of Christmas. Of regular people just like you and me looking for Jesus and trying to figure out what to do with Him on this side of Christmas. Jesus, full of Grace and Truth, lived among us… this side of Christmas.
So, this side of Christmas is OK… because of Christmas this calm, cloudy, wrapping paper factory explosion is OK. Party over…. the hard work begins… but the Word became flesh and living among us is still here to find. Full of Truth and Grace… a light shining in the darkness. Merry this side of Christmas!