The Perfect Christmas (Friday Devotional)

“As it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.””

- Romans 3:10

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

- Romans 3:23

My Advent wreath, as you can see, isn’t perfect.

That’s not for lack of effort, you understand. Since our son was born ten days before Christmas last year, this month marks the first opportunity for Lindsey and me to celebrate Advent with him, to introduce the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love that accompany the birth of Christ. And we want to do it right, so we decided we needed an Advent wreath so that we could light the candles at home just like we do on Sunday mornings with our church family.

After making the rounds at Mardel, Hobby Lobby, and Michael’s, I learned that Advent wreaths apparently aren’t something you buy ready-made (at least not in Waco). So we resolved to make our own. Easy enough, I assumed—you get a wreath, some candles, and voila…instant Advent wreath.

I ran into my first snag when, after returning to the aforementioned stores, I learned that purple candles (the ones used for the first, second, and fourth weeks Sundays of Advent) are apparently pretty rare. Had I wanted pink, green, blue, white, brown, or even black candles, I’d have had no problem, but purple candles eluded my grasp. Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself not to be legalistic about this tradition and settled for red candles.

But when I got home, wreath and candles in tow, Lindsey asked what my plan was for mounting those candles. “We’ll just stick them in the wreath, right?” I asked. Her raised eyebrow told me all I need to know about that plan’s viability.

So Monday night (already almost two days into the Advent season by now), I came home from Hobby Lobby with four glass candle holders and triumphantly plunged one of the red candles into its holder…only to discover that it didn’t fit, at least not perfectly. The candle was in no danger of falling over, but neither would it stand straight up. It just sort of lazily leaned against the holder like a worker on a smoke break.

But with Advent already in full swing (and with me refusing to walk through Hobby Lobby’s doors for a fourth time), we decided our slapdash wreath would have to work. And so it rests on our bookshelf, each candle doing its best impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our wobbly, discolored wreath is far from perfect—but it occurs to me that its flaws may actually help tell the story of why God sent His Son in the first place.

After all, Jesus did not come to save perfect people. Jesus came to bind up the wounded, to restore the broken, and to forgive the sinners—as he once put it, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. None of us, on our own merits, is worthy to even stand in the presence of Almighty God.

Yet at this time of year, perfection seems to be the goal in so many areas. We want to get the perfect gifts for our family members, friends, and coworkers. We want to have perfectly decorated homes. We want to host perfect holiday parties. We want, in general, the perfect Christmas. But take a lesson from my Advent wreath: Christmas is not about your perfection, it’s about His.