Christmas Adam

My brother's & I showing off
our new clothes one
Christmas Adam.

Christmas Day 2010 is done.  The presents are all unwrapped, the stockings are unstuffed, the refrigerator is full of leftovers, and all the cards that didn’t get mailed are back in the box for next year!  Un-decorating is never quite as motivating as decorating. If I’m not careful the post-Christmas blues will settle in. They always seem to come close behind the celebration. Maybe it’s just exhaustion! But when everyone’s gone home and the ordinary is calling again somehow things seem even more ordinary?  My youngest brother coined a name for the feeling of the day after Christmas, Christmas Adam. It’s our family’s way of describing the mixture of feelings you have after the party.

I find that it’s easy to let the ordinary leave me feeling a little down; some years down right depressed! Especially when things have not gone according to my plan!

However, this morning I read this verse in Psalm 89.”Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord”.   

Christmas is a joyful call to worship! O, come let us adore him. The angels called the shepherds to worship, the star led the wise men to worship and Christ called us all to worship. The call to worship always comes at the beginning of the service, Christmas is only the beginning. At Christmas, the light came to the darkness and called us to worship. What a sweet form of worship to walk in the light of his presence.  Walking in the light is our response to the call.  And walking is an ordinary thing. Every day involves walking. Some days our walk is rushed, some days steady, some days we skip and other days we lean on others just to put one foot in front of the other. But every day He is present shining the light showing us how and where to walk.

In the gospel of John, Jesus speaking to the people who remained after the attempted stoning of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said you don’t have to walk in darkness. Speaking to both those who were addicted to the Law and to the one trapped in sin, he offered the same words from his heart.  “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12 NLT) Whatever is blocking the light from your path - addiction, sin, depression, bad theology, or just the ordinary things of life, it doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus is here and He is the Light.

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is the lights.  One year when I was young we didn’t have enough lights to cover the tree so my mom made a cross with the lights inside the tree. In making the best of not having enough lights, she reminded us of the reason for the lights. This year when I pack away the lights I want to remember not to pack away the LIGHT that came at Christmas!

The awesome thing is when we walk in the light of his presence, wherever we go the reflection of his light will light the path of our fellow journeyers.

On this Christmas Adam, hear the joyful call to worship!

Thanks for listening,

See you next Sunday

Ronda

If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. (Isaiah 50:10 NLT)