As kids, we couldn’t wait for Christmas.  Those first few random snow flurries at the end of November, perhaps a hint of things to come, meant that Christmas was on the way. We started to mark off the days, the countdown was on. School classes began to focus on Christmas. Carol singing, decorations in the classroom, and preparations for the annual Christmas assembly were in full swing.  Who can forget all those tacky Christmas gifts we made in art class for our parents? I’m old enough to remember making clay ashtrays for the smokers in my house!

Then it finally came when classes were done, we were on our Christmas break. Now the countdown began.  Christmas Eve arrived and the anticipation was almost too much to bear. Gifts under the tree, what would they be? Plans for family members to visit and meals to prepare. Then the day finally arrived, Christmas day … family, food, and gifts!  And then it was suddenly over. Just like that, it was gone, and we’d have to wait another whole year to experience it again. The Christmas tree, now devoid of its splendour and tinsel was tossed to the curb like some unwanted instrument, waiting to be picked up by the garbage collectors.

Christmas may come and go each year, but the longing and anticipation are still there. The year 2020 has brought many different challenges to us, COVID-19 being just one. The Collins Dictionary’s word of the year for 2020 is “Lockdown” and it describes what many have felt given the pandemic environment we find ourselves in.

Our world in many ways may indeed be in lockdown. However, the hope we have in the gift of Christmas, the promise fulfilled by our Heavenly Father gives us hope and sustains our longing for that time when Christmas will not end as it were. It is a longing that recognizes that this world is not our ultimate destiny, it is our temporary home. Our longing, like that of children anticipating gifts at Christmas, needs to be focused on our eternal destiny, the ultimate end of this journey and the beginning of our eternal presence with Jesus. 

When I was a kid my anticipation and longing for Christmas wasn’t dampened by the changing economy, the price of gas, a lack of snow, the weeks of school that remained before the break, or even the Toronto Maple Leafs losing yet again! I was a kid, and my focus was fixed on Christmas, I was oblivious to all else.

Two thousand years ago Maji from the east were focused on a star. The long trip from the east to Bethlehem did not detract them. The difficulty of the journey through desert conditions didn’t deter them. They were focused on the star and it led them to the One who was to offer the greatest gift, a Christmas that never ended, salvation!

It is easy to become distracted today by things like COVID-19, lockdown, and social distancing. All of which can rob us of the joy of anticipation, the longing for our eternal home. We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus this Christmas season despite our current pandemic restrictions and inconveniences. My theme for this year “In it not of it” highlights our temporary residence here and directs us to the hope of an eternal home waiting for us. Do we anticipate and long for that? Do we want others to be there with us? Our current pandemic environment gives us so much opportunity to engage with those who are searching, those who are weighted down with fear and anxiety, those who have lost hope, those who need the good news of Christmas!

Let us continue to long for, hope for, and anticipate that day when Christmas will not end. Until then, let us live in a manner that draws others to the One who gives hope and through faith, by grace, invite all to receive a new identity, a new citizenship, a new hope, filled with longing and anticipation.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Still longing for Christmas!

Rev. Bill Allan
AGC President