Engage the Mess: The Unchanging Answer

We’ve all taken many tests over the years, among them school exams, driver's licenses, eye tests, and probably more common these days, stress tests! My favourite is the multiple-choice test. At least there are better odds of getting the correct answer, than in a long written answer type of test! Just guess, you might be right! I still snicker at the advice given to children in Sunday School: “Just say Jesus, and you will probably be right!” I like that. Jesus is the answer. Period.

With Christmas just around the corner, Jesus is still the answer to the messes we encounter in life. He is still the answer to the questions of poverty, pain, sickness, loss, and the why questions we ask. We may never fully understand this side of heaven, but Jesus knows, and we can rest in Him even when there are unanswered questions and ongoing pain in our lives. Jesus came to give meaning to the mess. He came to provide a way out of the mess. He came to meet us in our mess.

Two millennia ago, a group of poor shepherds heard these words out on a cold field at night while watching over their sheep: “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 2:10-11).

We hear those verses so often at this time of year that we almost skip over them. But take another look. “Good news” is the Gospel—God doesn't abandon us to our mess, whether we made it ourselves or through no fault of our own. "Great joy” is because of God, and not our circumstances or what we can accomplish. This good news and great joy is "for all the people." Not limited to only the chosen few, but extended to all who come to receive. For "unto you," tells us He came for each of us personally. And finally, “a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” He is the promised Messiah who is able to heal every hurt, cleanse and bind every wound, and care for those who have no hope.

Jesus is still the answer. I like how the apostle Paul puts this truth into practice amid the mess, “But we have this treasure (this Gospel) in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). Life is messy; Jesus is the unchanging answer!

As you celebrate the hope of Christmas this year, may you be reminded again of the unchanging answer to every mess that life can bring – Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Bill Allan, AGC President