Like this:

“Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’” Luke 5:31

Oh Christmas.

The season brings about such a strange mix of emotions for so many people. The joy we are supposed to be feeling is so obvious. Christ coming into the world to set about the greatest rescue mission of all time. Even those who aren’t celebrating Christ’s birth use the season to give gifts and spend time with family. Yes, we all know what we’re supposed to be feeling. Joy. Peace. And hope.

And yet the weight of the holiday also triggers a number of conflicting feelings. Missing loved ones are grieved. Another year passes without the goals we thought we’d accomplish. Finances are stretched. Old pain is dug up. Anyone who has ever been through anything at all feels it at Christmas.

This Christmas is feeling especially poignant for me and my new little family. Brad and I have grieved the brokenness of Christmas individually and together, for ourselves, yes, but mostly for our kids.

We wanted our kids to have perfect Christmas. Mother and father in the same home, gathered around the tree, opening gifts on Christmas morning. No missing pieces. No broken hearts. No what-ifs or if-onlys. At least just the illusion of the perfect Christmas for as long as we could protect them from the life ‘out there.’ They would learn the difficulty of budgeting, traveling, shopping, cooking, etc. soon enough. But if they could just think Christmas was perfect, we could sleep at night.

But alas, the best we could do is a broken Christmas. Two broken families with some parents and not others, with some grandparents and not others, getting some gifts but not others. I mean, I certainly felt like I had it all growing up. And that’s what I wanted to give Caroline.

I pondered this as I was helping mom cook in the kitchen. The brokenness of this Christmas. And I was starting to get terribly sad. This is not what God intended for Christmas. We humans in all our sin wrecked something else God intended to be perfect and beautiful.

Or did we?

I began to take note of the first Christmas and realized it was far from perfect. A long, difficult trip. ‘No Vacancy’ signs everywhere. Crowded streets. A cold night. Mary giving birth without the help of mother or girlfriends. A feeding trough for a bassinet. A shady celebration with shepherds.

If any child deserved a perfect Christmas, it was Baby Jesus. And if any parent could have provided it, it was God. But God allowed His Son to be born in obscurity and skepticism. Jesus’ birth was shrouded in controversy from conception. He wasn’t born in comfortable conditions. He wasn’t hailed as the newborn king. He was just ‘that poor kid who had to be born in the stable because his folks couldn’t find a room. Gotta hate that.’

Mary and Joseph felt judged and rejected by family and friends. They felt like they didn’t have enough anything. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough stuff. Their Christmas was not spent surrounded by their family, but by strangers. And yet, they rejoiced.

No, the first Christmas was not a perfect Christmas. Indeed, the first Christmas was a broken Christmas as well. So why in the world should we expect any different? Christmas is not a day to pretend all is right with the world, but to acknowledge life’s flaws and our need for a Savior, and celebrate regardless. Christmas is not about perfection, but about redemption.

My King, we praise You for Your birth. For Your crazy magnificent plan. Lord, You didn’t come to give us a perfect Christmas. You came because we are so hopelessly imperfect. You came to save us. And God, while we’re here, no Christmas will be the perfect Christmas. No day will be easy. No family will be without struggle. And no heart will be unscarred. But You came to make a way home for us. So may we focus on preparing the way for You in our hearts and lives. And Jesus, free us from the desire of perfection from anything other than You. You alone are the perfection and wholeness we long for. Fill us with Yourself this Christmas. Glory in the highest to You, our King and Redeemer. And Happy Birthday.

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