Do you remember your favorite Christmas tradition as a kid? Maybe you were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. Perhaps you left cookies and milk out for Santa. I remember reading "The Night Before Christmas" with my dad - listening to him intentionally mess up the story with alternate words and rhymes. My favorite part of Christmas was when we would finish opening our presents, then jump in the Oldsmobile and drive to my Grandparents' house for round two!
Then later in life - when God blessed us with our own kids - our joy began to come from watching them go through similar emotions as they patiently wait for the big day. And another thing happens when you get older. You begin to understand that not every child in the world - or even the majority of children - are as fortunate as those in most homes across America.
Our church partners with ministry efforts in various parts of the world, including Mexico, Turkey, Rwanda and elsewhere. Recently some of our partners in the Congo notified us of an extreme rise in violence - including murderous attacks against Christian leaders by various witch doctors from animistic tribes. Children have been raped and abused - displaced from their families and from what little security they had grown accustomed to in this genocidal region of the world.
My heart is ravaged as I read the reports, trying to process the reality of conditions that I cannot wrap my mind around. As my children sleep in the warmth of a well-furnished home, I cannot begin to imagine the pain of a parent whose children have been ripped away from them by force in the middle of the night. And while I cannot allow existential guilt to consume me based merely on the fact that I was fortunate enough to be born on American soil - neither can I allow my heart to become indifferent to the 3.5 billion people in the world who live on less than $2 per day.
We may not frequently meet people who have been ripped away from their families under such extreme conditions as I just described. But each of us know someone who has been displaced - a person who for whatever reason feels like an outcast. Who is that person within your reach this Christmas? Could God be offering you the opportunity to bring the life and light of Jesus into that life? An invitation to Christmas dinner? A Christmas card hand-delivered to their door? An invite to join with your family at a Christmas Eve Church service? Who among the displaced is God calling you to invite home this year?
Jesus came because we were displaced. We had become estranged from God through our sin - and Christmas morning launched the mission of a Messiah who would bring us back home. Maybe YOU are the one who has been displaced. Would you consider joining us at Valley Church for any one of our three Christmas Eve Services - 2pm; 3:30pm; or 5pm on December 24? I hope you will - and that God will whisper to you this week about how much He wants you to come home. Wherever you are at spiritually, emotionally or physically right now - Jesus proves that God is head over heals in love with you. May you open your heart to that love this year. If you want to talk more about connecting to this Savior, please email me at jwhite@valleychurch.com. Blessings to you from the Jesus followers at Valley Church.
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