His Family Table by Reed Leiting

Advent: a time of reflecting on true joy, peace, hope, and love that the coming Christ Child makes possible for each one of us.
Does this describe you today? Or do the words stress, despair, fear, anxiety, anger, lostness, grief, sorrow, misery, depression, or loneliness describe you better?
The “Hallmark” Christmas pictures everybody at home, enjoying their time as a family together. Laughing, singing, hugging,…but is that a true picture of Christmas? The first Christmas was a man and his pregnant fiancé in a cave where shepherds would keep their sheep when it was cold. No extended family. No laughing. No singing around a piano. Just dirt, straw, a feeding trough. Silence. Joseph and Mary were probably stressed, desperate, and full of fear and anxiety. Mary was most likely in pain, miserable and scared. These are familiar feelings in Jesus’ ancestors’ lives. These are all feelings Jesus is familiar with.
Maybe your Christmas is more like the first Christmas than you like. No home to go to. No one to be with. Maybe it is less like the family time in the Hallmark shows. Maybe just the thought of family time brings anxiety, fear, or even anger.
Yet family is important to God. God entrusted His Son to a human family.  In John 19:26,27, Jesus instructs John to care for Mary, His mother. In the Family Tree of Jesus, there is grace! If you read the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16), you will see four testimonies of grace. They are found in the stories of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, & Bathsheba. There is sufficient grace for us too!
Christmas is about God sending His Son to be born as a human to give us all a chance to be part of The Family, God’s family! His forever family! There is always room for you in God’s family! Come now and join The Family, to celebrate Jesus’ birthday! There is room for you at His family table. Pull up a seat. Celebrate Christmas with true joy, peace, hope and love with true family.