For many people posting on this forum and many other parts of the world, one of the hardest seasons in the year is approaching.
As people celebrate Christmas, many are blessed with loving families, good friends, comfort and joy. Good for them.
For many others, this is a horrible and painful time. It is a period of hostility and yelling and icy silence as clashes erupt between family members. It is a time of loneliness for those who have no one close to them, for those who people choose to leave out, choose to ignore, choose to alienate. For millions around the world living in the midst of the oppression of poverty and war, Christmas like most other days is a time of hunger, pain, suffering and death.
I think it is worth taking a while to reflect about what the first Christmas was like. It was not the happiest time for many people. It was difficult and painful and dangerous. And I won't even go into looking at the obvious differences between the coming of Jesus and this whole consumerist and materialist mantra that is put on by the market.
When Mary conceived, Joseph at first was heartbroken and angry and wanted to divorce. One can imagine the quarrels that took place in that house before he learned the truth about God's plan. As soon as word spread that the baby would be born, people in power immediately wanted them dead. Joseph and Mary spent the days leading up to Christmas fleeing and looking for shelter from the forces of authority which was attempting to murder their son. They were turned away in many places. Finally, they found a stable. In the cold and dark night, as a refugee and without a home, Mary gave birth to Jesus.
The Son of God came to the world among refugees and outcasts, people without many friends and very powerful enemies who had no home.
He was brought to the world by people whom others turned away and rejected, people whom many wanted dead, people who at times even did not want each other. And as He traveled and revealed the Kingdom of God, it was the outcasts and 'the rejects' and 'the losers' who came to Him. People who felt terrible about themselves and had no one to turn to, people whom society had already written off. People who were hungry, thirsty, homeless, persecuted.
Most of those who rejected and persecuted and finally ended up murdering Him had 'everything'- status, respect, leadership, property, and a hypocritical and 'holier than thou' attitude rooted in a distorted and falsified view of God that had nothing to do with the Truth.
The 'rejects' and 'losers' ended up accepting Him and spreading His glory and being saved in Him, being guaranteed everlasting life. The self-righteous crucified Him and later also killed His apostles. They threw away their salvation because of their privilege on earth.
I am a loser. I do not have many friends, and some people I was very close to have decided they do not want anything to do with me anymore. When I accepted Jesus, it was after many years of having no one to turn to.
This Christmas will not be the hardest one I have had, because our family situation is better than it used to be although it hasn't always been that way. But I will feel very lonely and sad because I don't have many friends and some very close people who I thought I would spend some of this time with will not be there. I know I will be seeing some of my friends once but that seems to be about it. This is nothing in comparison to other Christmases I have went through and to what others have went through and will be going through.
I do take comfort in the knowledge that my Saviour also felt cold and rejected and hated. I take comfort in the fact that He accepted the rejects and the losers and the guilt-racked and the suffering. I take comfort in the knowledge that He lived and died for losers and screw-ups like myself.
Jesus loves us, regardless of what others may say about us or what we may even think of ourselves. He came down to earth and was born in a cold and smelly stable in dreadful poverty so that He could live among people like us and show us the Truth and die for our sins so that by turning to Him we could be saved.
During this Christmas, I pray that Christ brings comfort and healing to those of us who are suffering from depression, loneliness, anger, loss of loved ones, rejection; to those of us who hate being alive and feel that it is not worth it anymore, to those of us who are thinking about suicide and those who have already tried. He loves you and cares about you. He is ready to stand beside you and help you carry your burdens. He is willing to accept you for who you are, and is willing to allow you to serve Him. And when He takes your life from you, He will take you to a place where you will never feel pain or rejection or loneliness or anger or depression again.
Have a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you.
Cristo Vive!
- Tomasz
As people celebrate Christmas, many are blessed with loving families, good friends, comfort and joy. Good for them.
For many others, this is a horrible and painful time. It is a period of hostility and yelling and icy silence as clashes erupt between family members. It is a time of loneliness for those who have no one close to them, for those who people choose to leave out, choose to ignore, choose to alienate. For millions around the world living in the midst of the oppression of poverty and war, Christmas like most other days is a time of hunger, pain, suffering and death.
I think it is worth taking a while to reflect about what the first Christmas was like. It was not the happiest time for many people. It was difficult and painful and dangerous. And I won't even go into looking at the obvious differences between the coming of Jesus and this whole consumerist and materialist mantra that is put on by the market.
When Mary conceived, Joseph at first was heartbroken and angry and wanted to divorce. One can imagine the quarrels that took place in that house before he learned the truth about God's plan. As soon as word spread that the baby would be born, people in power immediately wanted them dead. Joseph and Mary spent the days leading up to Christmas fleeing and looking for shelter from the forces of authority which was attempting to murder their son. They were turned away in many places. Finally, they found a stable. In the cold and dark night, as a refugee and without a home, Mary gave birth to Jesus.
The Son of God came to the world among refugees and outcasts, people without many friends and very powerful enemies who had no home.
He was brought to the world by people whom others turned away and rejected, people whom many wanted dead, people who at times even did not want each other. And as He traveled and revealed the Kingdom of God, it was the outcasts and 'the rejects' and 'the losers' who came to Him. People who felt terrible about themselves and had no one to turn to, people whom society had already written off. People who were hungry, thirsty, homeless, persecuted.
Most of those who rejected and persecuted and finally ended up murdering Him had 'everything'- status, respect, leadership, property, and a hypocritical and 'holier than thou' attitude rooted in a distorted and falsified view of God that had nothing to do with the Truth.
The 'rejects' and 'losers' ended up accepting Him and spreading His glory and being saved in Him, being guaranteed everlasting life. The self-righteous crucified Him and later also killed His apostles. They threw away their salvation because of their privilege on earth.
I am a loser. I do not have many friends, and some people I was very close to have decided they do not want anything to do with me anymore. When I accepted Jesus, it was after many years of having no one to turn to.
This Christmas will not be the hardest one I have had, because our family situation is better than it used to be although it hasn't always been that way. But I will feel very lonely and sad because I don't have many friends and some very close people who I thought I would spend some of this time with will not be there. I know I will be seeing some of my friends once but that seems to be about it. This is nothing in comparison to other Christmases I have went through and to what others have went through and will be going through.
I do take comfort in the knowledge that my Saviour also felt cold and rejected and hated. I take comfort in the fact that He accepted the rejects and the losers and the guilt-racked and the suffering. I take comfort in the knowledge that He lived and died for losers and screw-ups like myself.
Jesus loves us, regardless of what others may say about us or what we may even think of ourselves. He came down to earth and was born in a cold and smelly stable in dreadful poverty so that He could live among people like us and show us the Truth and die for our sins so that by turning to Him we could be saved.
During this Christmas, I pray that Christ brings comfort and healing to those of us who are suffering from depression, loneliness, anger, loss of loved ones, rejection; to those of us who hate being alive and feel that it is not worth it anymore, to those of us who are thinking about suicide and those who have already tried. He loves you and cares about you. He is ready to stand beside you and help you carry your burdens. He is willing to accept you for who you are, and is willing to allow you to serve Him. And when He takes your life from you, He will take you to a place where you will never feel pain or rejection or loneliness or anger or depression again.
Have a Merry Christmas, and may God bless you.
Cristo Vive!
- Tomasz