Read Malachi 3.1-7
‘Are you ready for Christmas?’ I appreciate it’s one of those British-isms which is more of a ‘passing the time of day’ comment than a genuine question, but I still think I might cause actual bodily harm to the next person who asks. Because NO! I am not ready for Christmas!! I have completely lost track of the gifts I’ve already purchased and squirreled into the back of the wardrobe, ensuring that I’m bound to have forgotten someone significant who will be mortally offended… On top of that I’ve lost the tree baubles, I have a half-completed supermarket delivery scheduled (which will remain that way since I’ve also planned half a menu), I have no time to plan naughty daily deeds for a fictitious elf to commit, I’ve written four Christmas cards (none of which contained the news of the year), I haven’t lined up any gifts for my pets, and who even knows where the sellotape is?! If Christmas is a competition, I didn’t get the message. (Or TBH, I did, I just ripped it up and failed to carefully recycle it because I missed blue bin day…)
Our reading today contains a message that Christmas is (finally) coming. A messenger is preparing the way. And then suddenly the Saviour will come. It’s been a long wait! Good news then? No. Because nobody will be able to bear his coming. He will be like a refiner’s fire, or like soap. He is one who will spot every blemish and imperfection. He will be like the judge who puts everyone on trial. And he’ll also be like the witnesses who testify in court to the wrongdoing that was done. Everything will be exposed and brought into the open. Every time God’s perfect ways were not kept.
It transpires that being ready for Christmas is something entirely different than our gift buying and menu planning. It’s something that no amount of tinsel and lights can help with. The One who comes at Christmas will be able to see well beyond that. He will see right into the depths of my heart and worse, he will expose everything he finds there with a brilliant light. The mask I put on every day to pretend everything is together will be shattered into a million tiny pieces. He will see all my wrong motivations, attitudes, words and actions. And he’ll see all my brokenness and shame – all the words, attitudes and actions that have been inflicted on me, cutting into my soul and leaving their raw, ugly marks. The gone-to-work-naked-dream will be nothing compared to this.
If this is being ready for Christmas, I don’t want it. I’ll do better with my plans. How hard can it be to get it together myself? New Year is right around the corner. Ten resolutions to sort my life out and it’ll all be fine.
Just who do I think I’m kidding?
There’s no amount of my effort that’s going to make this OK. I can’t fix it myself. I can keep it covered up and pretend it’s ok in polite company, but that’s it. I don’t want the exposure this Saviour is going to bring, but I need it. Because it isn’t just exposure – it’s rescue. I need to be rescued by One who sees it all and has the power to deal with it. And not just the power, but the love, the gentleness, the care to deal with me. The One who says ‘return to me, and I will return to you’. I need to let him in. It transpires being ready for Christmas is not about having everything together, but about admitting I’m broken. And I am.
So, I guess I’m much more ready than I thought.
Reflect
What has being ready for Christmas come to mean to you?
What fears do you have about the light this Saviour will bring?
What would it mean to you to know a Rescuer like this?
Susie lives in NE Fife and works in ministry. She loves being with friends, feeding people and half finished creative projects.
