Every year when I read the Christmas Story from Luke’s account, I linger over this one sentence that seems so oddly placed: “For nothing shall be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) That the angel should give such a sweeping universal pronouncement in the middle of back-to-back baby announcements seems oddly dramatic. But for these women whose lives are about to be abruptly re-written, it is not only a clarion call of restoration for the world, but an assurance straight to their hearts.

To the older woman married for years, already resigned to life as it is, her dreams wrestled into silence years ago, the Word of the Lord comes. To the young woman still in her father’s house, with her whole life out in front of her, the Word of the Lord comes. To each the impossible message from the Lord is given– intimate, unexpected, and marvelous. To each the terrifying challenge is given to reach out and grow into new places. I can’t help but think that the angel laughed at the ridiculous joy of his news. The Almighty One stoops to enter the ordinary, the everyday blood and body of a woman…and there are no more barriers between the holy and the mundane, between what is possible and what is not. God will Himself accomplish His purposes in hearts that are willing, and our lives will no longer be limited to what we can see and touch and make sense of. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19) Something new in the ordinary endless dust of our Everyday.

And to us also, the angel’s message comes at Christmas for all the impossible circumstances we live with. For the bad habits we are trying hard to break; for the complicated relationships that we keep trying to fix; for the ways we cope and cover up and distract from what really matters; for the fragility of these bodies and spirits, and the dark fears that creep at night– for all these, the joyful song blows on the wind: Nothing shall be impossible from now on, because your Maker has come! In all the hard rocky ways we limp through this world, and the griefs that weigh heavy, still there is this announcement that everything can change. And we sing in reply, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King!” We may not see the fulfillment of His plans just yet, but the Almighty One sees us and has come to help, and nothing is truly impossible any more.

Nothing shall be impossible because He is at work, and who can stop Him? Nothing shall be impossible….“for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14) Nothing shall be impossible…. for “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28) Nothing shall be impossible….for “he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.” (Romans 8:11) Nothing shall be impossible….“for we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:32)

For all our impossible things, a Savior was born on a night long ago in Bethlehem. “O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

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The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”

Isaiah 57:15

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There is no place I can go
Where you don’t already know
How to reach right down and pull me out
I need you…

There is no fight left
On the inside
But maybe that’s where I should be
I’ve given up tryin’
I’m giving it all to you.

No Fight Left, JJ Heller

I keep hearing the deejays say on the radio that “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”  But that’s all they are promising, and given the news headlines, I wonder if they are trying to convince us, or themselves. And it’s only a few days into December, and already moms are looking a little wild-eyed at the shopping and the decorating and the parties of Christmas. The calendar promises a regular holiday whirlwind that might distract from the real-life reports from the doctor, and the daily work pressures, and the loneliness; but we all know how those sit heavy on our hearts, at the end of the day.

To be honest, some years it is hard to get excited about the season, and some years it feels like I am decorating this evergreen tree by faith, stepping out into Celebration when my heart hasn’t quite caught up yet. But I do it anyway. Because the only promise that matters was fulfilled right before our eyes on Christmas: the Babe is born into our dirt and noise, and He will save us from our sin.

It’s the oldest promise in the Book, the one that comes right after Adam and Eve wrecked the world, and it comes veiled in the figurative language of prophecy. I feel sure that our first parents had no idea it would take so long to be fulfilled, but they lived in faith that it would come at the right time. And weren’t all the generations since, just building their lives on faith? From Sarah who birthed her promised son at the ripe old age of ninety and laughed at the sheer ridiculous wonder of it, right down to Anna who spent her solitary life camped out on the doorstep of the House of the Lord, praying and waiting for the Anointed One.

Isaiah sings out the promise most clearly: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) The angel messenger carries the promise to a young girl in her parents’ home, “…the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) And the angel armies in the skies above Bethlehem pick up the refrain, shouting it to the hilltops: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

We too lift our voices at Christmas, put up our trees to remember the promise, and we light them in full hope of God’s faithfulness.  “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

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Meanwhile, this grand primeval promise, ‘The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,’ would stand out as a beacon-light to all mankind on their way, burning brighter and brighter, first in the promise to Shem, next in that to Abraham, then in the prophecy of Jacob, and so on through the types of the Law to the promises of the Prophets, till in the fullness of time ‘the Sun of Righteousness’ arose ‘with healing under His wings!‘

Alfred Edersheim

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And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.“

Revelation 21:3-4

I’m carrying boxes of glitter and trim up from the basement, strewing the house with tissue paper and bits of styrofoam, and these familiar mixed feelings for the coming holiday season, when the thought slides in like a hush and everything slows: Advent is best celebrated by the weary…the stressed, the grieving, the lonely…all the ones that struggle the most with the bright holiday rush. Those who are the most in need, can best rejoice in the One who has come for them, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

It is the worn-out and the weary– the ones ready to give up on this headlong race to do more and better– that can welcome the message “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) They do not need to throw themselves into the gala and glitz to find something to satisfy, because their hearts are already kneeling before the manger of the King of Heaven.

Advent rings out with every carol that we are not alone, because God Himself has come down to us. It is the lonely ones longing for family and a Forever-love that will most thrill to hear “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) We belong in the realest of ways, when we find our Home in the presence of the One who made us.

It could well be that those who hunger for God and His kingdom will find more joy in the Babe who is born than in any number of presents and parties. It is the broken in need of mending who are looking for the answers, and Advent is the best news of all: “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” (Malachi 4:2)

And on the days we feel most deeply the injustice and pain of this broken struggling world, we can rejoice most, because Emmanuel is come, God with us. To all those who grieve for their losses, Advent reminds us there will be an end to the hard things of this earth, for the One who comes is the Prince of Peace Himself. The Prophet says it clear and strong: “Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5) Advent anticipates a Savior who carries our pain, delivers us from sin and its curse. This is a Light that shines in the darkness and makes everything new.

Advent is the place we wait for the unveiling of God’s redemptive plan…where our deepest longings meet their fulfillment, and God’s promises come true right before our eyes. Rejoice, oh weary world, for your Savior comes to you! And Jesus’ words echo with the utmost certainty : “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) He comes in answer to every needy, joyful heart.

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Our displays of distress, far from dishonoring our God, honor him as Creator and Redeemer, who ‘comes to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found’….Our longing is for happily ever after, but not the ones we find in wishful, fictitious fairy tales. Our longing is for the Happily Ever After that is also true because it is rooted in time-space history and sealed by our Lord’s resurrection from the dead and promised return. The fact that Jesus will come again is our reason to rejoice.

Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen, Scott Sauls

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The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy….Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert….and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

from Isaiah 35

Advent always seems to come as a lifeline here at the end of Autumn, as the days darken and the trees lift their bare arms to the sky: the wordless groaning of creation under the yoke of Death. And we put away our memories of warm Summer days, clean up the remnants of garden and growing things, repair and reinforce home to protect us through the Winter, settle into our resigned hibernation along with the rest of creation until Spring breaks through once more. We know this cycle of life and death and life again, have turned with it all our lives, and still feel the loss at Autumn’s end. Somehow the weight of our mortality weighs heaviest here at the close of the year.

But then Advent dawns on us, quietly, like a secret waiting to be shared, and we light the first candle and hear the faint refrain: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…(Isaiah 9:6) And we remember that a Rescuer has come for us, and this endless cycle of life into death has been broken by a Resurrection. The weary world rejoices for the Life that is to come– a grateful chorus raising, here at the end of Autumn. Advent is about waiting, about reminding our hearts of the truths we already know, and need to know again.

So here in the dusk of the year we latch onto Hope that we have not been left alone in the dark, and our hearts swell with the Prophet’s old story we share again and again: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2) And we know this is our story, and we string up the lights and sing the songs that tell of the Savior’s birth, and remind one another that He has come for us, and the Winter will not last forever.

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Here in the mystery
Son of God and Son of Man
Dawn is now breaking
Through thе skies of Bethlehеm
Earth meeting Heaven
As one baby cries
Death started running, running
And salvation arise

Savior, We Are Messengers

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When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

Seven hundred years before Christmas, the Prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) And our hearts leap at his words, because we know that darkness– have lived and worked here all our days, pushing back against it to build a life here for the people we love. Some days we feel like we are actually gaining ground in making the world a better place. And we string up the lights at Christmas, and make as much joy as we can for one another in the strength of that hope, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if there really were an ending to the long night, a light as certain and overwhelming as the dawn? And right here in the bright bustle of the holiday season, all our dreams and fears intersect. We are decking our halls and making merry with gift-giving, but our hearts long to hear the old familiar tale of a baby in a manger and shepherds under the stars. Remember, it whispers, a light has dawned.

So we light our small candles in the dark tonight, and remind ourselves of the true message of Christmas: that we are not alone in the dark. We have a Savior and He has come to us, and a new age has dawned. Isaiah knew the names we would call Him, long before He was born: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) But his mother called Him Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) We could never have guessed it would happen this way, this mystery of God’s grace that lights our darkness. As one contemporary writer puts it: “Our God who breathes stars in the dark– He breathes Bethlehem’s star, then takes on lungs and breathes in stable air. We are saved from hopelessness, because God came with infant fists and opened wide His hand to take the iron-sharp edge of our sins.” (Ann VosKamp)

Isaiah exults in the dawning glory of God over a land struggling in chaos and injustice. “For unto us a Child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.” (Isaiah 9:6) And we rejoice in this at Christmas, because we have seen Jesus, and the way He lived and died for us here. His friend John wrote, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5) This is the best gift, this promise of a happy ending, and life that does not end with the here and now. The Light of the World is here with us, and the darkness cannot extinguish it, no matter how grim the world may seem, at times. If Light was dawning on the world on that first Christmas when Jesus came, it will blaze like lightning when He finally comes to set everything right.

So tonight we hold our candles in expectation and we sing, looking forward to the day when His radiant dawning light wipes out all the darkness everywhere, forever. This is the hope of Advent, whispering in our hearts: He has come for us; He is coming again for us. And the angels sing it back to us in the Christmas sky, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

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A child has been given,
The King of our freedom;
Sing for the light has come!
This is Christmas.
Come and adore Him,
And bring gifts before Him;
Joy to the world,
Worship the Son!
This is Christmas.

We Have A Savior, Hillsong

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And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:3-5

It seems like everyone has big hopes at Christmas. About getting that amazing present. About glittering holiday events. About making special memories with family. But there are all these outcomes you can’t control, and sometimes everyday life falls so far short of what you had hoped. Seems like Mary might have known something about that, finding herself on the road when her first Baby arrived, instead of back home surrounded by women who knew what to do in these situations.

And I wonder if she even realized how close her time was, as a young girl who had never gone through this before…. or if the Baby made it to full-term at all, considering the stress of the journey. We don’t know the personal details of Mary’s story, but we can certainly appreciate her circumstances, when the pains began and there was no place to rest, and sometimes there is nothing else to do but hang on and get through it the best you can. When you are hoping for something good with all your heart, receiving the unexpected and difficult can send you reeling– feels like a slap in the face. But this is the beauty of unexpected gifts at Christmas, that God’s grace is bigger than all our hopes and fears, and He is thinking far beyond our moment’s comfort, painting His glory in the night sky for shepherds and kings and camels to witness.

Whatever we are hoping for this Christmas season, there is this certainty, that we are no longer alone. Because God has come down to be with us in all our outcomes, and we cannot even dream of what will happen next. However things turn out in our days, we have the promise that never fails: “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The Musician-King knew it all along, and set it to music, “You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” ( Psalm 16:11) However big our hopes, God’s plans are bigger, and in the end we will not be disappointed. The prophet wrote down what He said, centuries before He arrived in a stable: “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts'” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

So we set the star at the top of the tree and light the candles;place the nativity figures around the creche and read the old old story yet again; and let Hope shine out into all the dark places.

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Can’t go back to the beginning,
Can’t control what tomorrow will bring,
But I know here in the middle
Is the place where You promise to be.
I’m not enough unless You come;
Will You meet me here again?
‘Cause all I want is all You are;
Will You meet me here again?

Here Again, Elevation Worship

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Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20