I recently had cause to shop for a nativity set.

I found one advertised online which appeared to be just what I was seeking. However, when I read the ‘blurb’ I realised that the beauty of the wooden nativity was overshadowed by the description that stated ‘missing Jesus’. Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds and wise men were present and correct but the smallest nativity character was absent, presumably lost or mislaid. There was a missing piece right at the heart of the scene.

Some of us may be able to identify with that feeling of loss this Christmas. In the midst of the beauty there may be a missing piece, a gap, an absence. It could be carved out by worry, grief or fear – the loss of someone who would ordinarily be with us at our Christmas table, the ache caused by unwelcome news, the burden of work pressures, the unease of debt or myriad other causes.

It's possible to be distracted by the beauty of the season for a short time but it’s not lasting and doesn’t fill the gap. A bit like eating some great fast-food only to discover that you’re hungry again 30 minutes later, we might find that our Christmas celebrations leave a hunger. Perhaps that is why we want to prolong the festivities each year, to ward off the more unwelcome of realities.

I’ve heard people refer to Christ Jesus as ‘the missing piece’ in their lives, and my own experience bears testimony to that. But I also know that it doesn’t shield me or any of us from the loss, it isn’t cure for the loneliness, it won’t usually cover the debt, or remove the worry.

Instead, Christmas speaks to me of the commitment of God to dwell with us; sitting with us in the emptiness, amid the beauty and the brokenness of our lives and our world, not there to plug a gap but to assure us that God sees us, loves us and comes to be with us through all the things that are hard to carry.

I am reminded once more that God loves us enough to be present; in Jesus, God moved into our neighbourhood, as stranger, and in the most vulnerable form imaginable so that we might know that this God is not a threat to us but rather a gift of love that will be lasting and life-giving.

This gift is not just for those who can afford an extravagant Christmas, not just for those who look like us or celebrate in the way we do, not only given and received in warm buildings and with bright lights, but amongst the stranger and in the side-street and for all who will make a space in their heart to welcome this Jesus-shaped love, this God given gift.

May you know this greatest gift and greatest giver to be yours this season and beyond.

Amen.