Who's Coming to Dinner (Friday Devotional)

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

- John 1:14

Despite all the traditions and music and food that fill the day, the most memorable aspect of each Christmas tends to be the people you spend it with. For parents of small children, Christmas is remembered because of the glee in your child’s eyes when you reveal that Santa stopped by overnight with toys in tow. For those with big extended families, Christmas is perhaps remembered as the time in which you catch up with cousins you haven’t seen all year. And for all the miles that many will put on the road the next few days getting from one family gathering to the next, the stress of travel tends to fade in your memory, overtaken by the joy of arrival, of seeing the smiling faces of family at the front door.

But for some, it is the absence of family that makes Christmas difficult to forget. The loss of a parent is deeply felt when that parent’s seat at the Christmas dinner table is unoccupied. The person whose family is too far away for travel, or who has no family to travel to, wakes up on Christmas morning saddened by the silence that fills the house. Christmas is expected to be a time spent among loved ones, and when that expectation goes unmet, it barely even feels like a holiday.

Whether this year’s Christmas is spent with dozens of family members and friends or it is a solitary experience, I want to encourage you to spend some time reflecting upon who it is that brought people together that first Christmas in Bethlehem. Because of him, the virgin and the carpenter’s marriage began earlier than planned, with a different start than intended. Because of him, heaven could not contain itself and the sky erupted with celestial praise. Because of him, shepherds left their work behind to see what the Lord had done.

Jesus, from the moment of his birth, was bringing people together who otherwise would not have been in the same zip code. The news of his birth was celebrated by everyone from his parents to the angels of heaven to shepherds in the field to magi from the east, a diverse cast of characters with different backgrounds but the same motivation: to see the glory of the Lord for themselves.

This Christmas, you may spend time with large groups of people or with no one but yourself. But no matter who else is around you, this is the day when we remember that God is with us. He came as a baby boy, meek and lowly, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. His life would be full of many of the same joys and the same trials that you know today. When he gave his life for yours, he did so not as a casual observer of humanity, but as one who knew the full gamut of human experience—what it was to be tempted, to be joyful, to be betrayed, and to be loved.

So when you think about who you share your Christmas with, I hope you will not forget the one who shared so much with us that first Christmas. Whether your day is busy or quiet, crowded or lonely, the Lord is with you today. May your enthusiasm at his birth match that of the shepherds and the angels, and may you join with believers around the world in celebration—for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Christ came for you, so may you welcome him today.