Author: lleffler

The Christmas story is truly one of love – God’s love for us, Mary’s love for her baby – but the love that stands out for me this Christmas is Joseph’s love for Mary.  When Mary found out she was pregnant she and Joseph were engaged to be married.  At that time, it was considered extremely shameful to be pregnant if you were not married.  Joseph would have been expected at the very least to end their engagement and could have even had her stoned.  Joseph wrestled with what to do because he loved Mary but felt pressure from the culture that he was raised in.

When the angel came to Joseph, I am sure the message that Mary was carrying God’s son was met with relief.  He could be with the one he loved!  I am sure that Mary and Joseph still faced a fair amount of judgement from their community, but the angel’s message was the push they needed to put their faith in love.

Mary and Joseph’s love in the face of adversity is a message of courage and strength to all those who face judgement for who or how they love.  Joseph sets the example for us that family is what you make it not what society dictates.  We are living in a time when there are many different ways to be a family but often people who belong to non-traditional families face discrimination from society.

Like Joseph, we may struggle to find the courage to publicly choose love.  Joseph’s story reminds us that it is okay to wrestle with that decision and wait for the support you need to come out to the world.  Above all, Joseph’s commitment to Mary reminds us that facing that discrimination will not be easy, but it will be worth it!

It is easy to find joy in the Christmas story.  Once Mary knew that Joseph would accept her and the child she was carrying, I am sure she felt many moments of joy as the baby grew inside her.  The birth of a new child always holds great potential for joy.

It has filled me with great joy each time I got to hold a new cousin or nephew for the first time.  Although, the last three births in our family have been accompanied with a strange phenomenon.  Each time my sister became pregnant the person in our family she told first (other than her husband) died before the baby was born so, when the baby was born although there was much joy there was also a level of sadness in knowing that the new baby would never know the relative who had just passed.  As much as I would not wish this experience on anyone (in fact we all agreed my sister should stop having babies) there is an important lesson to be learned from this experience.

Joy and sorrow are not conflicting emotions!

We can feel more than one thing at a time.  Have you ever found yourself laughing at funeral or feeling lonely at wedding?  These are pretty common experiences.  It doesn’t mean you are sad at the funeral or happy for the couple at the wedding.  It is simply a reminder that our emotions are complex and layered.

Each Christmas there are people experience sorrow amidst the joy because they can’t be with loved ones – due to distance, estrangement, death, etc. – or because they can’t afford to give their loved ones all they want for Christmas.  If we do not openly acknowledge the places of sorrow it is easy to become trapped in that grief and sadness.

This year because of covid the Christmas season will look very different for most people and that will be very challenging.  This year especially it is important to acknowledge that challenge so that there is still room for joy this Christmas.

Jesus is often called the Prince of Peace.  He teaches us how to live lives of peace and yet when I reflect on the peace of Jesus this morning these are the two stories that come to mind: Jesus driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple and Jesus being frustrated with the disciples when they cannot stay awake with him.  I find myself wondering what these stories can teach us about peace.

Let’s start with a quick review of the stories.

At that time, it was tradition to offer sacrifices to God – both of grain and meat.  These sacrifices where used to feed the temple priests and the fat was burned completely as an offering to God.  Originally these offerings were meant to be from your own harvest but eventually there began a trade at the temple where you could purchase sacrifices so that you wouldn’t have to risk travelling with your animals.  When Jesus saw this, he became angry and drove everyone buying and selling out of the temple because the temple was meant to be a place of prayer.  On the surface this doesn’t seem like the most peaceful response.

Our second story takes place just before Jesus is crucified.  He knows what is coming and wants to spend the evening in prayer.  He asks a few of his disciples to come with him.  He walks a little way away from them to spend some time in prayer.  When he returns all the disciples are asleep.  Jesus asks them, “Could you not even stay awake with me for one hour?” which seems more like a moment of frustration than a moment of peace.

Even though on the surface these stories don’t seem very peaceful they hold very important lessons about peace.

The first is that peace cannot be truly achieved when there are injustices in the world.  This scripture is a call to action to speak out and make changes when there is something wrong in the world.  When you see people discriminated against because of race, religion, gender, sex, sexuality, ability, or any of the too many other reasons we create divisions in society SPEAK OUT!  Work to make changes in our social structures and in yourself to ensure that everyone has a safe place, and everyone is treated equitably.  Each person who acknowledges the inequities in the world and works to make positive changes brings us further along the path of peace.

The second story speaks to me about inner peace – a subject in which that I have a lot to learn.  I tend to sacrifice my own peace for the apparent peace of others.  Too often a suppress my own needs because I don’t want to create conflict or make someone uncomfortable.  This story for me is a reminder that it is okay to be frustrated with the people closest to me and the I need to speak my own needs, so people understand what is important to me.  Peace cannot not truly be achieved until you find peace within yourself.

We so often think of peace as quite and stillness.  This year I would invite you to consider that the path to peace may involve activity, conversation and new understanding.