Dear Members and Friends,
At this writing, only a few days out from Thanksgiving, Christmas sales in this country have already exceeded twenty billion dollars. Not only are shopping malls buzzing with activity, but so is the internet, where on-line sales are increasing almost exponentially.
Personally, I have nothing against gift giving in celebration of the Lord’s birth. Even now, I’m investing no small amount of energy in trying to come up with just the “right” thing for each of my loved ones. Then, once these items have been duly inspected and purchased, I will immediately proceed to commence the annual tradition of dispensing clues, well in advance of December 25th, so that when we arrive at that blessed morn, the paper adorning whatever presents I’ve given might as well be made of transparent cellophane.
I think the reason I have a need to extend clues is because these hints are also “feelers” attempting to see if what I’m giving is what people will truly want to receive. Yet this is very odd, because over the years, some of the very best presents I’ve ever given or received have been those unanticipated, unimagined gifts, neither requested or consciously desired. Upon consideration, the truth is that the real highlights around our family tree have been the occasions when a reaction of “What is it?” has given way to a thrilled “Oh wow!” – evidence that someone has been taken to a new and entirely unanticipated plane of joy and excitement, receiving more than they knew to want, more than they thought they could obtain.
This is what the baby Jesus did. Borne by everyday people dwelling in a humble place for animals, He was not the Messiah of educated expectation. Perusing the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Micah, we see that God also had a penchant for leaving clues. Yet these prophecies, so unmistakable in hindsight, were all but unintelligible mysteries to a people convinced of what they wanted, unaware of their real need, unable to conceive of what they could actually expect.
Apart from what we may anticipate or desire on Christmas Day, what God really gives us, in Jesus Christ, is Himself. As for me, I confess to spending a good deal of my life having no idea exactly what this gift was, or what it meant. Now I know it is the one gift of real substance that truly endures. In the whole universe, it is the only one with a wholly unlimited lifetime warranty.
Admittedly, the “business” of God giving Himself is not as blatantly lucrative as the acquisition of goods. Therefore it will not be counted or remarked upon by any of those who take it upon themselves to adjudge a given Christmas as “good” or “bad”. Even so, apart from registers of cash or credit, what would happen in our world if as much as we gave things, we gave ourselves?
Alas, the expenditure of money is far easier than the extension of one’s own person. Within present day sensibilities, fully offering our lives leads to justifiable feelings of weakness and vulnerability. These are emotions not very comforting to well protected, self-sufficient adults. Indeed, they are more precisely akin to a helpless Babe lying in a Manger.
From Reverend William J. Keane,
Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford
|
