We expect our Christmas stories to be full of joy. But they often only end that way. How we get there is how we find grace.
Grace, change, and the escape to Egypt
Christmas 2B | Matthew 2:13-15,19-23
Every Friday night my family gets pizza, some treats, and we do Movie Night. And this time of year, Movie Night is for Christmas movies. New ones and old ones. We like Noelle and the new Grinch alongside Charlie Brown, Elf, and of course, A Christmas Story.
And like many others, we debate about what counts as a Christmas movie. Our kids aren’t old enough to see let alone judge whether or not Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie, but they’ve decided Shazam and Rise of the Guardians both count.
And when we watch these Christmas movies, both the true ones and the borderline ones, we can see how much the Christmas story that we tell each other every year really is about a light shining in the darkness; about the need to change and be good to one another, and how the spirit of generosity is central to making this a season of magic and grace.
So much of what we know about Christmas comes from these movies.
But the thing about all these stories is that they all turn out all right in the end. That’s the payoff. But before that ending, when everything is up in the air, what do we have?
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