The Day After Christmas

The presents are all unwrapped, the tree is losing its needles, the house is a wreck, stockings are thrown in the corner, Christmas toys are broken, and the fruitcake has been passed on to another unwitting victim.  Decorations are coming down, and people are turning off their Christmas lights.  Parties are done.  Festive music has stopped again for another year.  We’re heading into the coldest, grayest time of the year.  It’s the day after Christmas.  Christmas is over.  It can be a seriously depressing time of year.

Charities often do really well around Thanksgiving and Christmas, as many people are cognizant of the “true meaning” of Christmas, whether or not their idea of the “true meaning” has anything to do with Jesus. But the day after Christmas, after we’ve all satisfied our need to help someone, the hungry are still hungry.  The homeless are still homeless.  The lonely are even more lonely.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting with someone who challenged me that I had somehow given the impression that the Christian life was easy.  It’s not.  At least if you believe Jesus.  In John 16:33, he tells his followers “In this world you will have trouble.” If that’s not a clear warning, I don’t know what is.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you will have trouble.  For every mountaintop, there will be a valley. For every Christmas, you will have a day after Christmas.  

There is a simple reason why.  Satan despises Christmas.  He can’t stand it.  At Easter, Jesus scores the decisive win over Satan and death, once and for all, but Christmas was when God set that plan into action.  And Satan knows that the baby born in the manger would be the One to destroy him.  So he wages war against Christmas.

But he goes about it in a clever way.  Instead of launching a frontal attack on Christmas, Satan is subtle.  He does things like cause you to get so busy that you don’t listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart.  He convinces you that gifts are the reason for Christmas.  He convinces you that as long as you show up for a Christmas service, then your duty is done for the year.  But he also attacks when we don’t expect it… the day after Christmas.  

Many of you have been thinking all December of what you can get Jesus for His birthday, contemplating what might be on Jesus’ birthday list. You have been thinking of the orphan and the widow, the least and the lost, those who are always on Jesus’ heart.  

You’ve thought of families who need a hand, and you’ve reached out to them with tangible demonstrations of Jesus’ love through the giving tree. You’ve reached into your wallets and checkbooks and given generously to support the ministry at Water’s Edge and the Tom Sawyer House.  You’ve given generously to a family you don’t even know on the other side of the world in Iraq.  You provided a Christmas miracle for the clients of our food bank, some of whom were specifically praying for food this Christmas because they didn’t know what they would eat for their Christmas dinner, and your generosity in providing food for the food bank and distributing it in an already busy week.   I've been especially touched hearing our children telling adults that Christmas is all about celebrating Jesus’ birthday, not about the presents.  You’ve spread Jesus’ love, joy, and peace to those who need it most.

It’s been fantastic, but there’s often a let-down on the day after Christmas.  Now we put away our nativity scenes, the ones that automatically make us think of the gift in the manger, that draw our minds to the message the angel told the shepherds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests!” After all of this is gone, Satan starts in on the attacks.  Satan creeps in and reminds us how tired we are, how gray the days are.  He tries to convince us to put away Christmas even as we put away the decorations or to leave Baby Jesus in the manger, where Christ the Lord doesn’t threaten Satan, the ruler of the kingdom of the air.

Every time God does something awesome, Satan attacks.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Satan doesn’t need to attack the complacent.  He doesn’t need to attack you if you’re never doing anything for God.  If you’re sitting still in your faith and never demonstrating Christlikeness in the world, if nobody even knows you’re a Christian, then Satan doesn’t need to waste his time on you.  But if you’re striving hard for the Kingdom of God, if you’re putting yourself out there and taking risks and growing in faith, if you’re demonstrating the Fruit of the Spirit, Satan will attack.  And often his attacks come right after God’s victories.  

One of my favorite prophets experienced this.  In 1 Kings 18, we see Elijah in an amazing contest against 450 prophets of Baal.  Whoever’s god brings fire – Baal or Yahweh – that’s the true God.  Baal’s prophets called on their god for hours, shouting, singing, slashing themselves with swords and spears. Nothing.  Then Elijah douses God’s altar with 12 large jars of water (in a time of drought) and prays, and God’s fire burns up the sacrifice and the altar itself and licks up the water around it.  An amazing victory.  

But in the very next chapter, we find Elijah running for his life, hiding in a cave.  He says to God, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.  I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:14)

I don’t know if you’ve been there, but I have.  We’ll have a fantastic Sunday morning, when God has moved powerfully, and then Satan will start in with the little things.  This wasn’t perfect.  That could have gone better.  Then he starts in with the attacks of doubt and fear – “well, we did something good here, but we’ll never be able to sustain it” or “where’s the money going to come from?” or “who’s going to complain?”

But remember when Jesus said we’ll have troubles?  He continued by saying this: But take heart!  I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) 

As you live in the day after Christmas, remember that Jesus has overcome the world.  This brings me back to the question I was asked last week: is the Christian life supposed to be easy? Unfortunately, the answer is “no.”  Doing what is right can be extremely hard.  Even Jesus struggled in this life.  Before he was crucified, Jesus told his disciples, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27-28a)  Jesus’ heart was troubled because he knew he was going to the cross.  He knew that some of his closest friends and most devout followers would fall away, that he would be betrayed and denied by his friends.  But Jesus recognized that the difficult times, even the most difficult time, happened for a purpose, for God’s purpose, and he knew that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  

He knew that to do what God had called him to do wasn’t going to be easy, but it was right.

The Apostle Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.  He said, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Through it all, they kept the faith “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” (2 Corinthians 4:14)

This is where Paul’s faith came from.  The knowledge that God is with us, never to forsake us.  That baby in the manger?  He grew up, lived a perfect life, was crucified and buried, but he rose again and he promised to never leave us or forsake us.  So when you’re at rock bottom, take heart! 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Our tendency is often to fix our eyes on the past: we remember our victories, and we think of the good times and wish that things were just like they were back then.  Often our memories supply the rose-colored glasses for us.  Then we wonder why things aren’t like things were back then.  The answer?  Things weren’t ever like they were back then! And even if they were, life happened.  Every day is different, because we’re each different every day.  As Christians, we’re called to be transformed daily toward Christlikeness. Paul tells the Colossians that you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9b-10).

Another tendency when our eyes are fixed on the past is to remember our regrets.  I spent a lot of time as a teenager living a double life and I regret all the opportunities I wasted to share Jesus and to live victoriously in every aspect of life.  But dwelling on our regrets is actually sinful; it’s denying that God’s transforming power is sufficient for us.  It’s saying, “God made junk and can’t fix it.” God doesn’t make junk.  Yes, we have all sinned.  Yes, we have all fallen short of God’s glory.  But Jesus’ gift on the cross is sufficient to cover all of our regrets, to erase every sin and fault, to present us sinless into God’s presence.

Sometimes we keep our eyes fixed on the past because we’re holding grudges.  Someone wronged us, and we won’t rest until we have justice.  If that’s where you are, you’re honestly setting yourself up as God, and God doesn’t take kindly to humans trying to usurp His position and authority.  And if that’s where you are I hope you didn’t pray the Lord’s Prayer today: “forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  

Paul tells us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.   For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)  On this day after Christmas, I invite you to fix your eyes on Jesus, on the promise of His justice, on the promise of His grace, on the promise of things greater than you ever imagined here on earth.  I’m going to invite you to a special time of prayer as we finish up.  Maybe you’ve been living with your eyes fixed on the past; God’s telling you that He has a hope and a future for you.  Maybe you need to forgive someone; God’s telling you that He’s got the justice aspect all wrapped up.  Maybe you’ve been living with pain and suffering; God’s telling you that your light and momentary troubles are achieving for you an eternal glory that far outweighs your troubles.

Do not be troubled, for God is with you.  Today, on the day after Christmas, and forever.