December Monthly Letter from Pastor Jason Edwards
Christmas in Person
I got the call a week before Easter in 2012. Christy had taken 7-month-old Luke to a checkup, and the meticulous fingers of his doctor had discovered what we would later learn was a baseball-sized tumor growing on his liver. He’d need surgery soon. Right after Easter. Would it be successful? Yes. Was the tumor benign? Yes, but we wouldn’t know that till after it was removed. Until then, we’d feel every moment of that Holy Week as if we were walking to a cross with Jesus and his disciples. There was fear and darkness. Deep, ongoing prayer. Hope. And: So. Much. Love. It was truly a holy week. The prayers, presence, and support (from so many of you) carried and comforted us in ways that still cause my heart to hum with gratitude.
One of those ways came to mind this week as I was reflecting on the season ahead. Many of you have met my good friend, Craig Nash. Craig and I met when I was in college and he, as a recent graduate, was serving in a variety of college ministry roles. Somewhere along the way, Craig stopped being my friend though. Somewhere along the way, Craig became family. I’m not quite sure when that happened, but it was never more apparent than Holy week 2012.
We were the beneficiaries of many texts, notes, phone calls, warm hugs, knowing tears, and uplifting conversations that week. Loved ones incarnated God’s presence for us in so many wonderful ways. I would have expected nothing less from my friend Craig. That’s who he is. And more. When Craig, who lives in Waco, Texas, heard the news about Luke’s tumor, he pressed pause on his responsibilities there, got in the car, and drove to Liberty. He wanted to be, in person, with us. And so, he was. He sat with us, prayed with us, worried with us, and waited with us. What an incredible, surprising, and sacred gift.
The gift we’re celebrating during Advent is like this to. Like this, and much, much more than this. In the prologue of John’s gospel, Jesus is described as the “Word” who was with God and was God from before time began. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the dark has not overcome it.” (John 1: 3-5, NIV)
And there’s more. John goes on to say that “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1: 14, MSG)
This is a huge part of the gospel. In the midst of our darkness, in the midst of our despair, in the midst of our utter separation from God and God’s hope, God saw us and showed up, because God didn’t just love us…didn’t just want to be for us…God wanted to be with us. In Person. And so, God packed up the car and moved into the neighborhood of our lives.
It’s possible we’ve heard “in person” more over the past 21 months than we ever had in our lives. It’s also possible that we’ve been “in person” less over the past 21 months than any other time in our lives. We’ve been there for one another. We’ve showed up in the ways we could. But, it’s been different. And, that difference has highlighted something sacred at the essence of our being. Even the most introverted humans have a longing to be with because every human was created to be with. We are relational beings, created in the image of a relational God, who still chooses, during dark and daunting times, to show up, with the Gospel, as the Gospel, in person.
This is the glorious truth we both anticipate and celebrate during the Advent and Christmas seasons. And this is the great gospel commission we’ve been called to embody as well. If you’re ready, we hope you and all your loved ones (please invite them) will show up, in person, during this advent season as we explore what hope, peace, joy, and love look like in person, as we look forward to celebrating the ever-sacred gift of God’s salvation breaking into our lives on Christmas, in person.
Waiting with you…
Jason Edwards, Senior Pastor