We Need Christmas This Year

We need Christmas this year. 27 families in Connecticut are struggling to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And the rest of our nation is walking with them. I cannot imagine anyone in America being untouched by the horrific events of last Friday. The Christmas message of hope has never been more needed than it is right now. Or maybe not.

It was early on a December Sunday morning about 70 years ago that the future of America was totally changed. The first Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor killing more than 2,400 Americans. Throughout that day, the news spread across the mainland. It was a December that was later to be called “the most remarkable Christmas of the century” and “a holiday season few would ever forget.” It was the last normal Christmas for a very long time. I cannot imagine the grief that many families felt during the holiday season of 1941 and for the next four years as thousands of sons, fathers and husbands would give their lives on foreign fields defending our nation in World War 2. Certainly they needed a message of hope during that time. 

It was almost another 70 years before then that Christmas was celebrated in the midst of a great conflict called the Civil War. In 1863, Americans gathered around Christmas trees, read the Christmas story and made the best of a very difficult holiday season. They too grieved the loss of their loved ones. Specifically, it was a very difficult holiday for a writer named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His wife had died just prior to Christmas and his son, Charles, was seriously wounded in the war. On Christmas day, Longfellow penned the words to the song, “I Heard the Bells”.  Two of the verses read: 

And in despair I bowed my head;
 "There is no peace on earth," I said;
 "For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
 "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on the earth, good-will to men."

He needed the message of Christmas desperately. And this year so do we. We need it because the message of Christmas is that GOD is with us. We live in a world where hate is strong and the wrong seem to prevail and GOD appears to be either dead or asleep. Our lives are marked with death, fear and hurt. And it is hard, very hard, for many to face another day of sadness, funerals and grief. Yet in the midst of this dark valley, there is a light. Light in the dark is the message of Christmas.

An early follower of Jesus named John described the Christmas story in a single phrase when he wrote that He, Jesus, “moved into our neighborhood.” We live in a world where people kill innocent children. And Friday is not the only day that happened. Innocent children are held in slavery every single day of the year around the world. That is our neighborhood and Jesus moved right in. Christmas tells us that our tears do not go unnoticed. Our broken hearts are not foreign to GOD. He has felt the sting of death as a Son and as a Father. It is His presence that comforts us and His love that gives us the strength to endure such a great darkness. He always has and He always will.

On December 25 we will wake up to presents and family. When we do, we will remember the Newtown families and the grief they are feeling. And we will remember that they are not alone in their sadness. GOD has come and He has made Himself known as the Great Comforter. He will be with them. He will take them through. Immanuel – “GOD With Us” – is the message of Christmas.