“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5: 43-48)
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). A reality that we experience every day! Upon announcing the cease-fire between Israel and Hizballah, we as Thimar team expressed our thanksgiving with the Arabic version of “Yet Not I but Christ in Me” as a gratitude to our Lord who keeps his promises — including the promise to be with us at all times no matter what.
Christmas is around the corner. It comes at a time when, from Gaza to Lebanon to Syria, people are wrestling with tremendous change, loss, mass displacement, and pain. Stress, anxiety, and uncertainty have become the norm in our region. Along with a deeper sense of hopelessness and despair.
Christmas is about the love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to sinners like you and me who drifted away, and whom Scripture describes as “hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). It is about a love that takes initiative, is non-conditional, and not specific to a certain ethnic or religious group. It is a love that stretches one out of their comfort zone.
It is a costly love! Jesus — God the Son — came to earth, lived in our midst, went through life with all its difficulties and challenges like us. Yet unlike us, he did not sin. It is a love like no other. And a love that Jesus commissions us to live out and reflect to others. It shouldn’t stop with us.
People walk past Christmas decorations in Beirut, Lebanon, on Dec. 7, 2024. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)
Jesus — the Son of the Living God — descended to earth with a mission (Luke 4:18-19) centered around us, the object of his love. People he would like to be in relation with. A mission he knew will take him to the cross. Yet, it was a cost he was willing to pay for our benefit. It is a mission that he expects his people — the Body of Christ, his Church — to pursue like him, unconditionally. Without discrimination. With love! His mission is now our mission.
We miss the point when we focus our Christmas celebrations on us and our people. Christmas is about moving out of your comfort zone. Reaching out to people who may not look like you or think like you. People who some may perceive as “the enemy.” But these are people whom Jesus loves and calls on you and I to love and to serve.
My prayer this Christmas season is that we see others as God sees them and not as we think God sees them, lest we miss out on the joy of being within God’s will. My prayer is that we do not give up on others, just as Jesus did not give up on us.
Nabil Costa is chief executive officer at Thimar (a Lebanese Christian nonprofit with education, relief and development, publication, and other ministries).
NOTE: This is part of our Unsettling Advent devotionals running Dec. 1-Dec. 24. You can subscribe for free and receive them each morning in your inbox.
