Why Jesus Came

"Jesus didn't come so we could celebrate His birthday. He came so that lives might be changed," our pastor said in his sermon this morning. This observation immediately reminded me of El Jefe's cousin who just left after coming for a visit with his father and youngest brother. Let's call him Matt. This is a good story for the first day of 2006.

Matt's father is my husband's first cousin. Matt is now in his late thirties and his life story up to now has been the classic tale of a young man gifted with great intelligence but no self-discipline and a wild streak. "I'm the failed product of liberal child-rearing," he told me yesterday. " I got to do whatever I wanted." Matt's parents married young and divorced early. He was raised by his mother with intermittent attempts by his father and paternal grandparents to intervene and try to straighten him out.

His problems contributed to the failure of his father's second marriage. While a teenager he developed drug and alcohol addictions that created chaos everywhere he went. Matt never finished high school and has supported himself as a laborer off and on. Yet even a brief conversation with him reveals the fact that he is a voracious reader. He can talk knowledgeably about history, literature and current events.

Over Christmas this year he and his wife separated. When I expressed sympathy with this turn of events he told me, "It's definitely a good thing." Matt has been sober for the past 2 1/2 years. This is a new record for him. He is working hard on learning disciplined life and work habits that he neglected growing up. Apparently his wife could not adjust to the "new" Matt, the one who no longer wanted to drink and party but now never has anything stronger than a Dr. Pepper in his hand.

This morning I told his father before they left that he must be proud of Matt's new sobriety. There have been so many disappointments over the years that I know he is still wary and concerned that there will be another relapse. But he said, " Yes I am. You know he started going to this church and it really seems to be helping him." Matt's father has never been a church goer and is openly cynical about organized religion, so this was quite an admission for him.

I don't know if Matt will be able to remake his life permanently and take advantage of the gifts he has neglected. He tells us that he plans to get his high school equivalency and try to take some college courses. How difficult it will be to do this at his age! But not impossible. Because Jesus came so that lives like Matt's could be changed.