For many of us, sorrow haunts the Christmas season. Or, to be a bit more liturgically accurate, it haunts the waning days of Advent, the days leading up to the arrival of Christmas.
Christmas, they tell us, is a time for family. But for many of us, that’s a sorrowful thing to hear. It’s why we weep this time of year. We weep over the parents we’ve buried. We weep over the children who don’t speak to us. We weep over the kin we still manage to gather with but who still mistreat us, and make us feel small and worthless. Christmas, they tell us, is a time for giving. We weep because of our poverty and how little we can give. Christmas is a time of joy. We weep but we don’t know why. We feel this sorrow pulling us down, burying us in doubt and despair that we can’t seem to escape.
So, then in these waning days of Advent, and as the day of Christ’s birth approaches, let’s run into the arms of our Savior, the one born to be our comfort, the Lamb of God sent to dry our every tear. Today, run to your Savior through faith. Rest in His arms. And cry your tears. Weep over your shattered families, your poverty, your sickness, your mystery sorrows. Weep. He will comfort you.
Through His word of forgiveness, through His word of peace, through His promise that Jesus Christ has destroyed your sins. He has conquered death. The Lamb has clothed you in the robe of His righteousness, the robe made white because it has been washed in His blood. And He has more gifts to pour out on you.
On the day of His return, He will set before your eyes the indestructible, incorruptible family of the glorified church, just as He will call you His brother and bless you to hear your Father in heaven call you His beloved child. On the Last Day, Jesus will destroy your earthly poverty with the endless riches of His kingdom. He will crush the sorrow you don’t understand and fill you with the joy that is beyond understanding. On that Day, the Lamb will dry your earthy tears forever, which means He can dry your Christmas tears today.
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