The End of the Story

The confession that I have to make is that I sometimes read the back pages of a book before I commit to reading it for fear of a bad ending. Who wants to read all those pages in between if the whole thing may end up like some bad French fairy tale where everyone is eaten and no one lives happily ever after? I can't stand to think that the heroine wouldn't get her Prince or the hero would not win his battles.  The only problem with skipping to the finish is that knowing the ending keeps me from really entering into the drama along the way. I am immune to the feelings of agony and longing that the characters walk through because I have peeked at the happy ending. 

When I was working in Europe with Young Life I experienced a series of "club talks" that they would use to share the gospel over 5 nights at summer camp. On one of the nights they would just leave the kids hanging with the "sin talk". Essentially they told the kids they were all sinners and the wages of sin is death and think about that for a night. It killed me.  My Baptist roots would show and I was scared to death one might die that night without knowing the end of the story (the redemption of Jesus) and they would go straight to hell.  Yikes!  Honestly, having a night of anxious wondering never killed one of those kids, but it did help cultivate in them a longing to know the rest of the story.  It did help the weight of their sins sink a little more deeply into their unredeemed brains.  It made the next night amazing.  It was the night the speaker would tell them about the grace of God to forgive their sins.  Imagine one day hearing "for the wages of sin is death".... and then waiting another 24 hours to hear the rest of the verse "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".  Talk about a holy pause.  

As Christmas approaches how about we all take a holy pause.  How about we take a moment to remember how desperately we need Jesus and why we need him and then perhaps the miracle of Christmas will be all the more glorious to us.  I don't want to be immune to the emotion of expectation and longing because I have heard the story all my life and it makes me yawn and stretch and do nothing.  I want the wonder of Christmas to have me on my knees in weeping praise and humble adoration.  I want the miracle of incarnation to be so much more than a story told year after year, but to be a truth that sinks deep down into my heart that shrinks at suffering and humility and only wants a saviour high and lifted up.  

The mystery of Christmas is that God put on flesh and dwelt for awhile among us (John 1:14)

 

Tonight I will sit with my husband and son by our tree, drinking tea in the glow of white lights and sparkling ornaments.  We will read our Advent Reading and we will ponder the mystery... together.