As the advent of Christmas finds us at Abu Grayb Prison here in Iraq, there are very few Christmas trees or wreaths, and that Christmas spirit which was always so evident at my house this time every year seems in very short supply among those spending the holidays far from home.
I suppose its to be expected that soldiers overseas might find something missing at Christmas time when family and friends, trees and lights, and all the holiday fuss is six thousand miles away. I find myself feeling less than cheery sometimes at the thought of missing the holidays at home, yet I must say that most days I surprise myself with a Christmas cheer that fills me, seemingly out of nowhere.
I have thought a lot recently about just what Christmas is. As I watch a Christmas movie on my computer or listen to the same old classic Christmas carols, I get the feeling that the joy I’m able to have here comes not from these things, and I’m pretty sure that if they were all I had they would only remind me of what I’m missing right now. No, the joy comes from a word we sing often this time of year. Actually, a name… Emmanuel!
Perhaps this Christmas spent away from home is a concrete reminder to me of what this season really celebrates.
About two thousand years ago something amazing happened. The creator of the heavens and the earth, the sovereign God who is almighty and over everything breathed his first breath as a frail little baby lying in a cattle trough, in a barn, here on our little planet. It’s amazing and even puzzling why this would happen. Oh, but when we consider just WHY he did this. Overwhelming!
Jesus of Nazareth said that he came “to seek and save what was lost”. Even the people closest to Jesus didn’t understand what he meant at the time, nor did they understand why the man who had the power to do anything let himself be nailed to a cross and put to a gruesome and painful death.
Before I could ever appreciate the true meaning of Christmas, I first had to come to some hard realizations. First, that I was a sinner. For as long as I could remember I was living selfishly in the face of a perfect, holy God. I was on a path of destruction just as the Bible says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and “the result of sin is death”. It didn’t matter that I went to church or tried to be a good person. I was hopelessly destined for eternal separation from God in hell. Hopeless…except for Christ.
Emmanuel, the name means ‘God with us’. “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life”. Christmas is all about celebrating the miracle that a God way too Holy for us loved us enough to become human and offer himself as a sacrifice to pay the price for our sins. It’s about the miracle that this human race, which rebelled against God from the time we were created, has a savior. And if we just believe and trust in Jesus, his death on the cross becomes the payment for the sins which would otherwise condemn us.
So, as I spend this Christmas season wrapping up a long and trying deployment overseas, I find reason to celebrate, because Jesus came to earth to save me. And I pray for my friends and family, that as they celebrate Christmas this year, they would celebrate because they have been touched by, healed by, and saved by our Emmanuel. | 
