I long for reconciliation. We all do. I think it is something naturally deeply embedded in our souls. We long for things to be made right. We desire broken relationships to be mended, lives to be made whole, wounds to be healed.

When I was in high school, me and my best friend had a fight. One day after almost a whole year of not speaking, Lisa passed a note to me in French class. (yes, long before texting, we did something called writing notes!) She told me she missed me and that she wanted to be friends again. That was it! I did too. It didn't take long before we went back to being best friends again as if nothing happened. It was good. That year that went by without her, I had other friends, did other things, but it wasn't the same. Deep inside I knew that I really wished me and Lisa would just make up. So glad we did. We are still best friends today 25+ years later!

I started thinking the other day about Christmas and reconciliation. It dawned on me that is what it's about. God sent Jesus to this earth as a gift, yes, but he came with a purpose. To put things right and to reconcile us to God. That which was broken would be fixed with the gift of that tiny babe because later, that babe would sacrifice himself and die to save the world from their sins. So humbling to think of how far God went to seek us out. This gift of reconciliation even started with Mary and Joseph.

Before Joseph and Mary got married she became pregnant. Joseph found out and "because he did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." He was ticked. Probably embarrassed, confused. He thought Mary cheated on him. My guess is there was an instant shattering of that relationship. But, later that night an angel came to Joseph and told him, "do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Joseph believed and did what the angel said and took Mary to be his wife. They went to Bethlehem together and Mary had a baby named Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

What does God's reconciliation mean to us? It means that God doesn't count our sins against us. He forgives us. Any distance between us and God (created by sin) is bridged by grace. What a blessed promise. This same ministry of reconciliation was handed down to us. We should preach this forgiveness and live it. This Christmas, if something doesn't feel right in your life, I'd encourage you to ask yourself, is there a reconciliation that needs to happen? Is it between you and another person? Between you and God? Whatever it is, wherever you are, God wants you to know that He came for you to help you make it right.
May we all use this time of year to reflect on the meaning of Jesus' birth and be reconciled once again to Him and to others.