Christ Jesus, Our Everything, Is Born
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
(Isaiah 9: 6).
My beloved wife Tharshini and I were blessed with our first-born on the 24th of June this year. A precious little boy he was and we named him Daniel Yesahan Veerasingam. But, on the 05th of August, he left us and went to be with the Lord. And this Christmas, we seek comfort in the midst of loss, knowing for sure that Christ , who is our everything, is born.
Right from the day Daniel was born, our little baby boy had to undergo many moments of unbearable pain and inexpressible difficulties. Starting from a surgery right on the third day of his birth to the last moments in intensive care on his 42nd day of life, Daniel suffered, and we suffered every single day imagining what he was going through. Indeed, within this short life of his, we brought him home twice and truly, within all these difficulties he had, he also gave us all the joys that a newborn baby would bring into his family and home. During the few days that he was at home, our baby boy would sleep calmly at times at the same time, responding to the smile and bosom of his mother and embracing the voice and shoulder of his father.
Other than this, Daniel's short life in this world was all about the beeps in the ICU, the wires and needles and the tubes that brought in and brought out liquids. In the midst of Sri Lanka's economy that suffered without sufficient pharma supplies and oxygen cylinders in its hospitals, our little baby was not getting what he should have in his condition. And yes, on that last day, in the midst of the prayers of many friends, Tharshini and I witnessed the little body of our baby, just minutes after he left the world from an isolation room in the ICU. I had the most challenging moment in my life as a father, receiving the sad news from the physician, then taking my wife by the hand and telling her the most brutal news showing the still and unmoving body of our baby in that silent room of tired monitors, machines and doctors' hands, that "Daniel has gone to be with the Lord." Later, we had to only see our baby boy clad in the dress he would have worn for his baptism and in that tiny little coffin that was brought to our home for the funeral and then slowly, following the peak of sorrow, the bereavement began.
The first time when I went and saw Daniel after he was rushed to the ICU, just the next day after his birth, I cried, asked for the Lord's help, and wanted to sing for him. And the only song that I could collect from my mind in that difficult and desperate time was the one I had taught the Sunday school children the earlier week. With my trembling voice and praying hands, I slowly sang in that ICU that housed a few other babies too. I sang...
"He is my everything, Jesus is my all,
He is my everything, both great and small.
He gave His life for me, made everything new,
Jesus is my everything, now how about you?"
I repeated this song whenever I visited Daniel in the ICU, and even when I was holding his hands and legs firm when he was being scanned by the Radiologist in the scanning room... I sang for him as a father while Tharshini could only see her baby, her world, suffering throughout the 42 days. Just a week before, here in a church in London, Tharshi and I heard three blessed children, each holding a little candle in their hands, singing "Silent night.. Holy Night... Sleep in heavenly peace". We couldn't control ourselves. We cried, held each other's hands and tears rolled down. The words of the song meant, for the first time, something else for us.
Today, on this Christmas day, I see Christ Jesus coming into this world as our everything! Christ the comforter had come into our lives as our all! He has come into our lives as the "everything" and "all" that we need. In the Bible verses we have taken for today, we see the prophet Isaiah prophesying about the much anticipated 'Messiah' who is Christ Jesus the Lord. And Isaiah says that this 'child', this 'son' who has been given to us will be called the "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Amen.
Christmas is not about the festival, not about the Christmas tree or the sweets. It is not about the Christmas Papa and the gifts he brings. But Christmas is about knowing that God has become Man! And this Man, this child, this son, has come into this world as our everything, our all! He has come into our lives as our Wonderful Counsellor who helps us to stand up again, do the right thing and be focused on what is eternal and what is forever. Jesus has come unto us as the Mighty God! He does mighty things, and today, even in the midst of all the shattered dreams and difficulties we are going through, He is able to lift us up and help us see through the darkness and blurriness in front of our eyes. Christ has come to us as the Everlasting Father who will be with us forever, even beyond this life in this world. The God of eternity, who is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus has come into this world as the Prince of Peace who gives us peace. Peace in our hearts, peace in our homes, peace in our communities and our parishes. God has come to give us peace. And all of these make Christmas meaningful to us.
This Christmas is indeed a different one for us personally. We have gone through the loss of our baby boy and also the loss of a few other close family members and friends. Probably not a 'Merry' Christmas. No regular festivities. I want to recognise that there will be some of you who are reading this on this Christmas day from the same situation as ours or may be different. Loss, failure, guilt, pain, pressing situations, stagnating in a place without any improvement, unable to find income for the family, bereaving the loss of your loved ones and many other conditions that may put you down.
In the midst of this all, let us remember that we haven't lost the assurance of a Blessed Christmas, and that is Christ Jesus the Lord our God. He is there, born as a child, a son, as our Counsellor, our God, our Father and our Prince. Let this Christmas remind us that He is our everything, our all! He is everything that we need in life and in eternity. And, as we remember and celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus the Lord, let us keep in our hearts that this journey that begins in the manger will see the cross of salvation and the opened tomb of eternal life. Let us continue our journeys of faith as we remember and cherish that Christ Jesus has come as our everything, our all.
Wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas. May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
"Million Little Miracles"
by Elevation Worship & Maverick City
