Christmas comes at the opening of winter, yet once it has come and gone, the rest of the season often feels like ‘bleak midwinter.’   December is marked with festivity.  While January offers little but routine.   December is filled with expectation, January with simple endurance.  The dry, tired Christmas tree has taken its place by the burn pit, or perhaps recycled as a fish habitat.   Decorations have been packed; the train of totes carried to the storage shed.   And all the lights, personal and public, are either taken down or turned off.   

Everything moves from color and light to the grey darkness of January.  The unconquerable Sun does not seem so unconquered. All the focused expectation has now been eaten, drunk, sung, and opened.  All that was bright, shiny, and magical is now waiting at the curb to be recycled.  The tokens of expectation have been put away.  Now it is back to the grind.

Yet such a view toward the end of the year and the end of Christmas shows a weakness both in our theology and our Christian walk. Our Reformed forefathers expressed concern that commemorating the Incarnation as a season, and not as a daily, present reality, would lead to the exchange of a transformational faith for a transactional religion.  

But if, as we claim, Christmas is an evangelical feast day and not a Holy Day, then it has tremendous implication for our lives into the new year. This should be a time of greatest adventure and awakening as we are reminded of who we are in Christ.  The great truths of the Incarnations are not to be packed away with the décor but should refresh the trajectory of our Christian walk.  Paul reminds us in Colossians.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

Colossians 2:6-7

We see this unfolding in the story of Matthew 2 as both the magi and Jesus’ family leave Bethlehem.   The magi’s adventure was not finished, but just beginning.  No doubt, they left with questions. They have new enemies, new priorities. And they have new allegiances.  They left to return by a different way.  And as the magi depart for the adventure of following Christ, the spotlight falls back on Joseph. 

We don’t know much about Joseph, but we see something important in the story of the flight to Egypt.  Joseph’s love for Mary and Jesus is a commitment beyond one decision.  We see him walk in all the consequences of his decision to take Mary as his wife and Jesus as his adoptive son.   He is sensitive to the Lord’s leading.  Careful to submit his priorities to the Lord’s purpose.  And vigilant to love and protect both Jesus and Mary.   

Like the magi, Joseph’s adventure of faith is not complete in the story of Jesus birth.  It is just the beginning.  And his story has much to teach us about what it looks like for us to live out the implications of the Incarnation, day by day.  What about you? Is your Christian life more than a decision to follow Christ?  Has the incarnation changed everything about every other day of your life?   Join us as we examine Matthew 2:13-23 and consider life after Christmas.

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.