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Each of us has our own Christmas traditions and styles of decorating, and our family is no exception. Every year, I bring our tree from the basement, along with several totes of ornaments and other decorations, which help make our house festive. While some people go all out with their Christmas decore and others do little more than a tree, we fall somewhere in the middle. There is the standard tree, the stockings for our kids along our mantle, a few small wall hangings, and a simple, yet beautiful nativity set that we display on our front table.
When we put that nativity set up a few weeks ago, it stood alone because we cleared the table by our front door that we use for the display. We put away or threw away the mail, school papers, gloves, hats, dog leashes, water bottles, and other "stuff" that naturally gathers there because our house includes four kids, a dog, a cat, and a husband who can't ever seem to put "stuff" away. We made room and prepared the place for the nativity set, so it could stand alone and stand out. Within about a week though, new "stuff" had gathered around Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, the signs that life was still taking place as normal in our home.
I don't know if you have a table or area in your household that catches the stuff of life, but even if you don't, all of us have "stuff" going on in our lives. Maybe you are busy with kids and activities. Maybe you are swamped at work. Maybe you are dealing with problems and situations that can not seem to be fixed and put in order.
All of us, in one way or another, are dealing with the messiness and brokenness in this world that is a result of sin. Even though we sometimes do not want to admit it or let others see the truth, our lives aren't pristine and pretty; they are cluttered and messy, just like my front table.
But praise God, even though our lives are in shambles, He didn't wait to come to this earth until we had cleaned up things and "got our act together." He stepped right into the world and the stuff of life. He "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14 NIV). Jesus stepped into our world, with all its messiness and brokenness, to show us the glory of God and to offer us grace that brings us salvation. "While we were still sinners," Christ not only came to this earth, He died for our sins (Romans 5:8).
Amidst all the busyness of this season and the stuff of life, it is easy to overlook the help and hope that Jesus offers to us. But if we would stop for just a moment, we would recognize that we desperately need Jesus, for Jesus alone can clean up the sin and brokenness in our lives, making us whole and granting us peace.
In this season of Advent, it is easy for us to allow the "stuff" to crowd out the reason for the season and for us to miss the glory of God and the hope of salvation that Jesus wants to bring us. This season, I pray we would be able to look past the stuff of our lives and see the salvation that Jesus offers us. I pray that we would allow Jesus to step into our lives, meet us wherever we are, and then change us into the people He calls us to be.
That begins with us making room for the Savior in our lives. This season, even if your life is a mess, take a moment and say a simple prayer, asking Jesus to meet you where you are so that you might know the peace that only He can offer.
Rev. Robert Rice, Pastor, Muncy Baptist Church, An American Baptist Church, 11 W Penn Street, Muncy, PA 17756, muncybaptistchurch.org