The Work of Christmas...

 

We are smack dab in the middle of the 12 days of Christmas, yet for many, Christmas is already over: the tree is shedding and the decorations are begging to be placed back in their boxes for another year. Christmas 2023 is quickly becoming one more holiday memory.

It is at this time I like to sit with the words of Christian mystic Howard Thurman:

“When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart.”

“The work of Christmas begins…”

I have been meditating on that statement all week. What is the “work of Christmas”? Are we willing to do it?

From Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel to Herod’s decree to murder all boys under the age of two because he found his power threatened by the baby Jesus, the birth of Jesus challenges those in power and upsets the status quo through God’s revolution of Love. The God who made us becomes one of us, to show us a better way to live, to challenge systems that keep us from living out our full God-given humanity, to ensure that oppression ends and justice reigns.

The work of Christmas begins…

As you begin to pack away Christmas decorations, how will Christmas remain in your heart? How will God’s love for humanity be visible in your actions? How will you live out your baptismal vow and “accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves”?

Our faith does not allow us to hold a naïve view of the world. As we consider the possibilities of the New Year, we know that we will continue to be faced with violence, political division, a world on fire, inequalities, and hatred. How does Jesus’ birth provide us with hope, instill in us holy boldness, and compel us to take on the task of ushering in God’s Beloved Community?

The work of Christmas begins…let’s do this!