Clothesline - Edition 233 "Pack Away Christmas"

By Rev. Elizabeth L. Nelson, Pastor

January 8, 2025  

Well, today was “pack away Christmas” day. It didn’t take as long as it did to put everything up! I guess that’s because when decorating, I spend a lot of time deciding where each decoration should be placed. But today? It’s just: wrap it up and put it in the box until next year.

Still, there are thoughts from a month ago…emptying the boxes and remembering…so many ornaments bought on vacations, things I made many years ago, ornaments from the kids, gifts from friends, a Willow Tree nativity set from a very special friend and a second one that was in my parents’ restaurant when I was a teenager!

As we began to bring our home back to where it was before the Christmas decorations, I began to wonder what this year will bring, what God has in store for me…for you. Even as I think about the future, I can’t help but look at the past…did I accomplish those things that were good and holy…could I have handled this situation or that situation better? Now, you know that kind of thinking could go on forever, I thought. Of course it could! If we did everything right all the time, all year long, we’d be perfect. But that’s impossible. We’re not God!

In a conversation just the other night I was asked when did God begin. Have you ever thought about that? God had no beginning…he always was and always will be. I was taught that, I never questioned it, but I never really thought about it. Today, as an adult, I take great comfort in that truth. Imagine—there was never a time without God! Some people revere Buddha and Muhammad, Mormon’s Joseph Smith, and Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard, just to name a few. But they all had a beginning and an ending. The One we lift up, had no such beginning; He always was and always will be. Think about that for a minute. He was there before the beginning of time, but His love is so great, that He created mankind, and even when sin came into the world, his love continued. We just celebrated that love in the birth of Jesus. And Sunday and Sunday, we will hear how he spread His love to all who would listen.

Sometimes packing away Christmas makes me a little sad. But this year… not so much. I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the story of this Jesus…who was, and is, and always will be. What a mighty God we serve!