Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/909943
DECEMBER 24 19 Merry Broken Christmas "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have eternal life." —John 3:16 "'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')." —Matthew 1:23 C hristmas is supposed to be a lovely season … right? Filled with the twinkly glow of the holidays and the holy days. A celebration of met expectations and fulfilled hope. Except when it's not. Except when it's broken. A cancer diagnosis. A child who's far from home. A runaway spouse. Unemployment. Loneliness. A broken Christmas. When life breaks all around us at Christmas, we wonder what we've done wrong. Where is God in a season like this? He's where He's always been: Immanuel, God with us. The very first Christmas was a broken Christmas. It began with a pregnant, unwed teen girl and a fiancé who wondered if she might have cheated on him. It continued with an elderly cousin of this teenager, also pregnant, whose pastor husband struggled at first to believe his wife could be pregnant. For his doubt, he was struck silent until the birth of his son. A census was ordered, and the young, betrothed couple underwent a three-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, even though she was far along in her pregnancy. And then the Christ was born in a cattle trough, amongst animals, because there was no room for the little family in a proper inn. Yes, the first Christmas was a broken Christmas, when God so loved our broken world that He gave His only Son to be born, to grow up and walk this broken planet, and to eventually die on a cross with His body broken for our need. Aren't you glad? Immanuel, God with us, comes to our broken world to mend us and make us whole. Merry broken Christmas. Immanuel comes to heal. Elisa Morgan, MDiv Alumna and Board Member