Each year, the local funeral home holds a special service of remembrance for those that have lost loved ones that year. It is always a special time and I have had the privilege to share the message the last few years. Below is the message that I shared. I hope that it finds its way to those that need to hear of the hope of Christ as they mourn loss this Christmas.
Colossians 1:19-20; 3:4
For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven… When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you will be revealed with him in glory.
Growing up, Christmas time always seemed to bring out the trickster in my father. It was not unusual for me and my siblings to find some quirky gift in our stockings. We would get a hand full of in shell nuts – the hope of any young child – only to find out that some, not all, of the nuts had been hollowed out and the nut had been replaced with cash. It was quite the site on Christmas day when we realized this and began smacking every nut we could find with dress shoes to get at our reward. One Christmas my mother began to open her enormously large gift only to find a series of nesting wrapped boxes, probably 10 or so, before finally arriving at a small piece of jewelry. On one particular Christmas, my first gift to open was a pack of batteries. An unusual gift for sure, but one that brought anticipation of something. Surely if there were batteries then some gift which required batteries was yet to come. But as the night went on and gift after gift were opened, no gifts came in need of batteries. The floor was littered with paper and boxes tossed aside, needed but unwanted clothes sat in a pile and foodstuffs were opened and shared. The clean up began and yet the batteries remained unneeded. Finally, after everything had been cleaned up and we were setting the table for our Christmas meal, my dad found one last gift under the tree, and it was for me. It was a hand-held gaming console that just so happened to need the same batteries I received.
Advent and Christmas are a great reminder that the gifts that God gives us are not just a one -time offering, but also a promise of a future eternal blessing. The gift of Christ is not just for now, but also anticipates a future with God where we dwell with him forever. The blessings of Christmas are wrapped not only in the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger but also in the resurrection to new life that is promised in eternity. Christmas is both a present gift and also the promise of more yet to come – of a life that does not end and that is free from the bonds of sin and death that burden our present days.
We now sit in days of anxious anticipation. The gift of Christ is a present reality for us yet it is still incomplete. We know of the coming hope, promised from the start of creation. We know of the freedom from sin and the release from pain and sorrow. Yet today, these promises are unfulfilled and incomplete at best. We have sorrow over loss while we are confident in a joyful reunion in eternity. We have pain and brokenness that await the complete healing of resurrection. We have the first gift of Christmas, but we wait anxiously for its completion.
The apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:2-3
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Today, we are God’s children. That is the first gift of Christmas. Yet, the full glory of what that means has not yet happened. We still await the coming glory. We still anticipate the resurrection. We long for the revelation of God’s glory in our lives in the return of Jesus Christ. But today we also know and are comforted in that hopeful future. We are assured in the eternal promise. What God has yet in store for us has been revealed. We don’t know the time or the day, but we know that when Christ appears, we shall be fully restored as the sons and daughters of the almighty that we were created to be from the purity of Eden.
And so today, may we stand firm in the gifts of Christmas. May we hold fast to the salvation that Christ offers us today in Christ. May the strength of the Holy Spirit rest on us now even as we long for what is yet to come. But may we also look forward with confidence, knowing that God offers us yet another gift, the final gift. One day, the clouds will part and Christ will return and the gift of eternity will be unwrapped for all to behold. And we will be freed from sin, healed from pain, and sorrow will depart because we will be with the eternal presence, the everlasting love, of God for all eternity. And God will finally reconcile all of creation. And Christ, who is our hope and is our love, will be completely revealed.
As we sit today between the gift of salvation and the gift of eternity, may we rest in certain hope that what God has promised will be revealed. The final gift, the life that never ends, is assured in the gift of Jesus. God has yet more for us. And may we allow God to purify us today with the purity of His presence. May we wait with eager anticipation, preparing ourselves for the life that is to come. And may God remind us that what is now is only the beginning of the greatness that is offered to us in Jesus Christ.
God has given us the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus. And the gifts that follow are still being revealed. May we look forward with certain hope to the final gift that still awaits. And may we praise God for those who have received their gift eternal and now live eternally with Jesus, our savior and our redeemer. Amen.
Dear God,
We praise you today for the grace that you so freely offer to us. We thank you for the salvation that we have in your Son, Jesus Christ. And we thank you for the hope that we have, the assurance that we have in the eternal life yet to come. Thank you for those whom we love who have received the fullness of your grace and now know the glory that yet awaits us. Give us strength in these days between that we may have peace and comfort through your Holy Spirit. Grant us your grace today anew, that we may be purified by your presence and have eyes to look forward towards our eternal reward. Comfort us who mourn this day and give us the assurance both of your grace today and the mercy yet to come. Amen.