Happy Christmastide!

Happy Christmastide 

It may be a sign of our times, but I find it difficult to imagine "good news of great joy that will be for all the people." 

I can imagine good news for some people. 

I can imagine good news for a few people. 

I can imagine good news for this group but not that group. 

I can imagine good news for me. 

I can imagine good news for us. 

But ‘all the people.’  That’s a tough one. 

‘All the people’ isn’t a demographic that polls very well at all. 

And yet, the message of the angel is quite clear, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”  

I suppose that is what makes Christmas so unique.  The good news of Christmas isn’t just for Mary and Joseph.  The good news isn’t just for the shepherds.  The good news isn’t just for Jews (or for Christians, for that matter).   

The good news of Jesus is for all the people. 

We tend to segment ourselves these days.  We tend to have our tribe, our people, our group. We love to hear good news for our people.  In fact, sometimes good news for us is not good news for others.  Even worse, sometimes ’bad news’ for others is good news for us. 

That’s a far cry from “good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” 

But that is how Christmas challenges us. 

Christmas isn’t ours.  Christmas doesn’t belong to us. 

Christmas is the people’s holiday. 

Why? 

Because the wild claim of Christmas is that God put on human flesh and became a person.  Became one of the people.  God as a person is the good news of great joy which shall be for all the people.   

And so we ask ourselves how our faith is good news for the people around us? 

Does our faith make us more compassionate people? 

Does our faith make us gentler people? 

Does our faith make us more loving? 

Christmas faith is clear and recognizable good news.  Christmas faith brings benefit to the lives of others.   

It makes a difference.   

It is words of grace offered in love.   

It is acts of peace that tame hostility. 

It is a generosity that meets needs and shares freely. 

Christmas faith is good news- not just in here- but out there too. 

Because the good news isn’t ours.  It belongs to all the people.  Just as we too belong to all the people. 

A true ‘merry Christmas’ is not found in the words ‘merry Christmas’.  A true ‘merry Christmas’ is not limited to our particular celebrations.  

A true ‘merry Christmas’ is good news of great joy for all people. 

Do our celebrations make room for those who look different than us? 

Do our celebrations make room for those who live differently than us? 

Do our celebrations make room for those who speak differently than us? 

True Christmas celebrations find ways to include the excluded. 

True Christmas celebrations find ways to welcome strangers. 

True Christmas celebrations find ways to love the unloved. 

May our ‘Merry Christmas’ be good news not just to us but to all who know us. 

May our ‘Merry Christmas’ lead us to make room for others. 

May our ‘Merry Christmas’ transform our hearts and our lives so that we become the good news of great joy for all the people. 

Merry Christmas. 

Scott Hovey