Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:16
While shoppers gathered candy for Halloween, the store manager watched a woman turn the three-foot Santa around to face the Christmas items on display, showing its backside to shoppers.
More curious than angry, he approached her and said with a smile, “Not a fan of the Season, I gather.”
She spun around to face him, her face contorted in anger. “It’s only the middle of October and you already have this junk on display! It’s too much too soon!”
It was the tears he noticed filling her eyes that choked off his rising defensiveness. Instead, he said, “Christmas can be painful for lots of people. Did you always hate it?”
She brushed away a tear. “Not until I didn’t have any family left.”
For some, Christmas can be a dreadful time of contemplating that empty chair or reliving bittersweet memories that are just that—only memories. Yet Paul knew that those who mourn await unspeakable joy. In a flash, deceased loved ones will rise and those who are alive will join them. There will be no more pain or tears, but God’s love pouring over all like sunlight, stronger than our brightest day on earth.
We know this is true because of Jesus’ resurrection. He is the first fruit of our eternal lives. We who miss family on earth now will celebrate with a family twice as big. Perhaps we will meet an older brother or sister who died at birth, or the great-great-great-grandfather who braved the ocean to bring his family to America. There will be joy and laughter as we transition from the temporal to the eternal.
Lord Jesus, this magnificent reunion will happen through your death on the cross. Help us live our days knowing what awaits us so that they are full of joy, even those seasonable ones, where through your grace, we will substitute memories for joyful anticipation.
