In the 30 days or so between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we often talk about making room in our schedules to focus on the “reason for the season.” The “most wonderful time of the year” often feels like the craziest and busiest time of the year. Amidst trying to balance family obligations, full schedules, overwhelming expectations, and fatigue, a feeling of exhaustion exists along with that “famous holiday spirit.”
In a “normal” year, the biggest obstacle to worshiping Jesus at Christmas might be our external lives (schedules, busyness, and relationships). However, 2020 has not been a normal year on any level. I wonder if this year we will find our biggest obstacle to worshiping Jesus at Christmas is our internal struggles.
Could our biggest challenges to worshiping Jesus this year include overcoming fatigue, grief, disappointment, cynicism, and conflict? Do we have room amidst our pain to worship Jesus?
One of the most famous lines in the Luke 2 account of Christ’s birth refers to the lack of “room.” It seems Mary and Joseph were slightly unprepared for the arrival of Jesus. “And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them.”
Bethlehem wasn’t ready to welcome Jesus, and frankly, I wonder how many of us feel ready to welcome and worship Jesus this year either.
Why Don’t We Feel Ready This Year?
There are many reasons why the holiday season might be difficult this year.
Could it be that hunger within us for the traditions and routines we enjoy year-after-year? Millions of people got a head start on Christmas, playing their Christmas music and decorating the house on November 1 (or even earlier).
Could it also be the weariness of a long, difficult year? That “long winter nap” described in The Night Before Christmas story is sounding pretty good right about now!
What about the conversations with family about changing or canceling plans, trips, or gatherings? The words “don’t mess with my Christmas” are on the lips of many of us!
How are you feeling about Christmas right now? Pause for a moment and think about what might be standing in the way (emotionally or spiritually) of your worship experience this Christmas. Hold that reason in your mind for a moment as you continue reading about the experience of some familiar characters from the Christmas narrative in Scripture.
They Weren’t Ready But They Made Room Anyway
When we read the Bible, I think we tend to forget the humanity of the people we’re meeting in the text. For example, later in Luke 2, we meet the shepherds who receive a very unexpected visitor and hear an unbelievable announcement.
“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!’ ...When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’”
The shepherds weren’t ready to meet an angel or hear the birth announcement of the Messiah. They were just having a normal night at work. Yet, their immediate response was to drop what they were doing and “make room” to go and worship Jesus.
What Can We Learn from Those Who Made Room to Worship?
As I’ve been trying to read the story of the shepherds with fresh eyes and an open heart, I see three things we can learn from them as we seek to do the same thing they did - make room to worship Jesus.
- Trusting what God says, not just our feelings. Can you imagine the wide range of emotions the shepherds must have felt that night in the fields? We know they were afraid because of the angel’s first words, “Do not be afraid”. But what else might they have felt? Anxiety? Confusion? Regardless of how they felt, they trusted what God said through the angel and they went to see Jesus. What would it mean for us to trust what God said and not just our feelings?
- Cultivating curiosity to see how God is at work. The shepherd’s immediate response after the angel departed was “Let’s see this thing that has happened.” One of the first casualties of cynicism is our curiosity. To be open to exploring what God is doing requires being open to being hurt again. What if we cracked the door enough to see what God is up to, while still being cautious as we heal from past hurts? What if we focused on fueling our curiosity this Christmas season and asked God to restore our sense of wonder? After all, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote, “Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes.”
- Committing to make room to worship together. The shepherds heard the announcement together. They went and saw the child together. They shared what the angel told them as a group. They returned to their field glorifying God together. Many of us are battling extraordinary levels of isolation and loneliness. It’s easy to give up on community and connection when the obstacles are real and large. But what if we made a commitment to worship together with others? That commitment might require creativity, imagination, and openness to new experiences instead of repeated traditions. When the choice is new or nothing, what if we looked for God amidst the new?
I can only speak for myself but my hunger for an end to the difficult and hard parts of this year is strong. I wonder if I can allow that hunger to make my desire for Jesus greater this Christmas than it’s ever been in the past. What if each of us started making room for worship this year today, even if we didn’t feel ready?
To do this, we’ll need to embrace the view Community Music presents in their song, “Make Room.”
"Shake up the ground of my tradition,
break down the walls of all my religion.
Your way is better."
What if His way is better? What if we could worship this year believing Jesus is doing something better than we could imagine?
Could we make room for that?
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer who believes he has the best last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He is the creator of the Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com
