This year, 54% of Americans report feeling lonely. Being around people doesn’t always help. We can be in a crowded plane, classroom, or church, and still feel alone. We can be at a work party with colleagues and friends and still feel unseen. We can be gathered around a dinner table with our own families and still feel misunderstood.
But the miracle we’ve gathered to remember this Christmas Eve is that through Jesus, God reminds us that we are not alone. Instead of leaving us on our own, God physically moved right into the middle of our broken, lonely world. The word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us.
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This year, 54% of Americans report feeling lonely. Being around people doesn’t always help. We can be in a crowded plane, classroom, or church, and still feel alone. We can be at a work party with colleagues and friends and still feel unseen. We can be gathered around a dinner table with our own families and still feel misunderstood.
But the miracle we’ve gathered to remember this Christmas Eve is that through Jesus, God reminds us that we are not alone. Instead of leaving us on our own, God physically moved right into the middle of our broken, lonely world. The word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us.
In Mark chapter 1, Jesus is a disruptor. He’s not merely tweaking the system, he’s re-writing it, stirring the pot, unsettling the status quo. It’s clear here that Jesus has authority to restore not just one aspect of our brokenness but every aspect. We see him healing bodies. Restoring spirits. Bringing people back into community. Upending systems of exclusion. Terrifying those who benefit from the status quo.
In each of these situations, he confidently goes against the current, trusting that there are some who will eventually fall in love with God’s way and follow Christ.
We can all get stuck. Stuck in patterns of thinking that make it hard for us to change direction, we’re left feeling helpless and hopeless. We can look at what’s broken and think, “It’s all too broken. It can’t be fixed or put back together again.”
The good news of the gospel speaks to us in these moments. It’s good news because it’s so drastically different from what we’d come up with on our own.
Haverhill Commons Church
This year, 54% of Americans report feeling lonely. Being around people doesn’t always help. We can be in a crowded plane, classroom, or church, and still feel alone. We can be at a work party with colleagues and friends and still feel unseen. We can be gathered around a dinner table with our own families and still feel misunderstood.
But the miracle we’ve gathered to remember this Christmas Eve is that through Jesus, God reminds us that we are not alone. Instead of leaving us on our own, God physically moved right into the middle of our broken, lonely world. The word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us.
