The year has come full circle once again. It’s Christmas, the jewel that brightens the ring of a year that has grown old, tarnished with grays and browns. Christmas is like a sparkling diamond catching the light and colors in its facets, drawing us deeper into its immeasurable depths until the meaning of life becomes clear, and we realize it’s all about love.
The prophets tell the story of how the people of Israel, those whom God chose for his own, forsook him, turned their backs on him. Essentially they committed adultery, breaking their covenant with God by worshipping the false gods of their neighbors. As it would any betrayed husband, this rejection angered God and broke his heart. He confronted and corrected them through the mouthpieces of the prophets, and yet they continued their self-willed ways. Yet, with mystifying grace and mercy, God made another plan. This amazing plan included not only Israel, but all other nations and peoples of the earth. This means you and me.
"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." ~John 1:9
God, the Creator of the Universe, was anguished in his heart over the brokenness sin had caused in his relationship with those he had made. He planned a pathway for us to make our way back to him. And that pathway was himself. It’s hard to fathom a love that would motivate God to set aside his power and position in order to, while still divine in nature, be born into human likeness. With extreme humility, he identified with us whom he loves so deeply. It is incredible that he would go to such lengths to win back our hearts. He chose to do it this way, to refuse to use his nature as God to force us into a relationship with him. This would not have been love. Love allows the beloved choice. And choice carries with it the risk of rejection. The story of Christmas tells of a Creator who became one of the created, a baby, vulnerable and dependent, whose path would lead to sacrifice and betrayal.
Rejection, however, was not the end of this love story! The dawn of Resurrection morning shines from our Christmas lights, twinkling as though enchanted. And indeed, this story is magical beyond anything we could ever do or conceive of - this miracle of God becoming man, encased in a human body that could be killed. And although no metaphor represents theology perfectly, perhaps we can imagine those burial clothes wrapping his crucified body as similar to the concept of a chrysalis, and Jesus, struggling through death and darkness, pushed away that encumbrance, showing us what life can be - and will be - a surprise of beauty and creation made new. Yes, every Christmas hides the spring, the promise of new life in the dead of winter, the butterfly waiting in the cocoon.
As the lights shimmer on our Christmas trees, let us remember the diamond. The ancient Greeks and Romans thought of diamonds as teardrops of the gods or chips splintered from falling stars. There are many metaphors wrapped in the star that guided the wise men to Bethlehem, including light over darkness, kingship, and the birth of a king. Perhaps we can also imagine that star, “like a diamond in the sky," was one of God’s tears shed over his wayward bride, Israel. And here above Bethlehem rested that tear, the very heart of God born to humanity to woo us back to him. Back to his love. Back to his mercy. Back to his redemption. Back to forever.
"For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready." ~Revelation 19:7
Like a diamond engagement ring, that star symbolizes God’s relentless pursuit, initiating once again the relationship he longs for - and what we also long for deep within our spirits. Like a wedding proposal, God has invited us to engage in the most promising love story - a story of hope in the struggle, overcoming in the sacrifice, and genuine love that lasts forever. And one day, as winter melts away and the soil of frozen hearts thaws, there will come a spring in which God gives us an eternity ring, a band that bonds us to him in a circle that is whole and unbreakable when he makes all things new. It is what our hearts have yearned for but never completely imagined. This is the Christmas story - God’s Covenant - his law of love - written on our hearts forever.
"The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown." ~Zechariah 9:16
by Heather J. Willis
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