As Christmas approaches we find ourselves swept up in a seemingly endless cycle of commitments and preparation. We look forward to a season of joy surrounded by people we love, yet so often we come away from all the things we have anxiously anticipated feeling tired and let down. It makes you wonder just what it is all about. Has all the hype and glitter somehow blinded us to the point where we miss not only Christmas but a large portion of life itself? It makes me wonder just what is it that makes a life worth living? What are the things that truly feed my soul so I come away refreshed and strengthened for the days ahead?

One of these things is certainly family but there are a lot of issues that surround us when we deal with our families as well. We like to think of our families as a place where we are accepted for who we truly are, a place of grace and acceptance. Unfortunately that is not always the case. often families are a place where our role is frozen in time. For example no matter how old I get, to my mother I will always be a child who does not have the sense to come in out of the rain. This difference between perception and reality is one of the main causes of friction when we come together as a family. often we come away tired and dispirited. We are looking for love understanding and approval and we feel empty and confused when it doesn't happen.

Another place we hope to find a source of satisfaction in our lives is in our work. Yet many of us are either retired or nearing retirement and there is a sense of loss there as well. those of us who are working are finding that the sense of loyalty and appreciation we hope to find in our jobs is no longer there. You no longer take a job when you are young and retire well appreciated after many years of service. Down sizing, the economy and any number of other things have us putting together patchwork careers filled with uncertainty. The rest we hope to gain from the Christmas Season is often colored by this uncertainty.

What are the things that truly sustain us in this life? What is it that will fill our lives this Christmas. It begins in Bethlehem, in a manger filled with hay where Mary lays the infant Jesus. The life of an infant might seem to be a thin thread upon which to build our hope... but it is hope and that is a large part of the foundation of our very being. The old saying that where there is hope there is life is a simple truth. The revelation only begins with the baby it does not end there and with each new thing we learn about Jesus our hope grows stronger. For Jesus is the one who bears God's promise, God's purpose to our world in a way we can truly hold in our hearts.

As our hope strengthens we begin to realize we can trust this God who is revealed in Jesus. and the trust becomes faith, a faith in which we can base our lives and our actions. It is God's gift of this baby seemingly so long ago that truly gives us the gift of faith and hope. So many other things in our lives are transitory or frozen in the past but the gift of Jesus is an ever present reality that grows in our hearts in a way that will not fail us, in a way that will grow within us so that whatever the circumstances our true needs are met.

Christmas is a time where we renew our hope, where we remember again the reason for the living faith we have in God. A big part of this renewal is worship. Many of you are aware that I am not a morning person. There are times when I literally drag myself to worship. I discovered long ago though that no matter how I feel when I start worship I go away feeling enriched, feeling my faith strengthened and my hope renewed. It is not the sermon or even the music, although these are important and help me find a truly worshipful place. It is God's love surrounding me, and the family of God supporting me that so uplift my spirit, that renews my soul.

God's true gift is love. A love so profound that as John tells us in his Gospel "he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." John 3:16 And from this first Christmas gift we have as Paul tells us three things that will remain with us always, faith, hope and love. When all else fails, these are the things that will sustain us, These are the things that make life worth living.

So worship with us at RLC this Advent and Christmas season. Take you place in the family of God and let God's gift of Jesus, of the Christ fill you with hope that will grow into faith and blossom into the abounding and steadfast love of God.

Pastor Jim Bliss
Christmas 2010