“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
To be honest, I don’t love Christmas. It is not my favorite holiday. I don’t love the added expense. The excessive amount of money I spend buying my kids things they don’t need. I don’t love the ridiculousness of Santa. Be good, or the fat man in a red suit is going to give you coal! I don’t love seeing the extent to which parents go to keep that lie going. What is the motivation? You know at some point your kids are going to figure out Santa is a fraud. I don’t love all the waste. Have you seen how much plastic and garbage we throw away after opening all those presents we didn’t need? Christmas feels like a holiday that’s been hijacked as we all try to achieve some hallmark card family event that’s not realistic.
But one thing I do love about Christmas is lighting the Advent candles. I love the visible countdown to Christ’s birthday. I love that it causes me to pause, light a simple flame, and read the story of Christ’s birth. It also has the added bonus of answering my kids’ repeated question: “How much longer do I have to wait?”
I know what it means to wait. Sometimes I feel like my whole life is on hold. I waited for two years to hold my firstborn son in my arms. And no, I didn’t have a strangely long pregnancy, there were months of nothing, then loss, then surgery and rest, then excitement, and finally birth.
We are all living in a time of waiting. We are waiting for Christ to come back. We long to see our savior with our own eyes. Then all of this waiting, all of this expectation, all the suffering and loss and wretchedness of this life will finally be done. Then our waiting will be complete and we will have our prize. A prize so much better than any simple Christmas present.
The end of our waiting is unknown. It could be hours. It could be millennia. I’m sure you feel it too. The pull of Christ. The pull of heaven and the desire to be with Jesus.
Every year I think of Jesus being born, of his mother, and the stable; I think of heaven. I think of the promises God fulfilled in that tiny moment, and I think of the promises that have not been fulfilled yet.
My children long for Christmas because of the presents. I’m sure they like the cookies, seeing grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins too, but a big draw for them is the presents. I will be asked repeatedly: “How many days until Christmas? How much longer? When is this finally going to happen?!” It feels like a lifetime to them even though it’s only four weeks. We don’t long for something we already have; we long for what we don’t have.
I long for Christ. I long to sit at his feet, bask in his radiance and sing him songs of praise. I long for justice and peace. I see my friends with chronic health problems and I long for them to be healed. I long for the wholeness that will come with finally being united with my Savior.
“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:23-24a). This longing is visceral. I love Paul’s word “groan.” It’s a yearning within us. A hunger.
I hope this Christmas you wait patiently for what you do not yet have. I hope you remember that one day your body will be redeemed, made new and perfect. I hope you count down to Jesus’ birth and remember our even greater promise that is yet to come. Heaven.
Heather Knutson is a writer and contributor to Women’s Ministries, living in Fergus Falls with her husband Clint and their children.