Grace, erm
Thanksgiving is past. The turkey and dressing have been put away. Our stomachs have been successfully stretched by stuffing and pumpkin pie. The fanfare and fever of the busiest shopping day of the year is now over. On the television, commercials offer promises of the greatest deals on the hottest and hardest to get new items, of the biggest savings, and of longer hours, which promise to meet the needs of even the midnight shoppers. Today, I even opened the mailbox to be greeted by an antler-wearing brown and white terrier, who was sitting on a red, white, and green rug, surrounded by evergreen. He promised me that if I ordered those purple house shoes by December 23, they would be on my doorstep on Christmas Eve. Oh yes, the buzz of the holiday season is all around us!
It is impossible to deny that there is magic in the air. I might even agree that this is the most wonderful time of the year. There is something enchanting about moving from Thanksgiving into December. Of course, with Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, with the long lines to check out and to see little elves and the jolly fellow in the big red suit, and with the fancy inflatable decorations and the bright lights, it is all too easy to miss where the real magic is. In the holiday hustle and bustle we often forget that something holy is all around us! God. God is all around us.
You see, long ago, God’s children were waiting, waiting for something very special, waiting for God to fulfill his promise to the world. They were waiting for God to send them a savior and messiah. And they waited a long time, anxiously, hopefully, expectantly.
There is something important about waiting, especially when we are waiting for God. Remember how the Psalmist talked about waiting for God, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my trust. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning” (130:5-6). We often forget how important waiting is in the Christian life. It is easy to grow impatient in a world of cell phones and Blackberries, of the internet, TiVo, and On-Demand movies. But the children of God waited a long time to see God’s messiah come, hundreds of years.
I missed that as a boy. I remember how hard it was to see all of the beautifully wrapped packages underneath the Christmas tree and to see the stocking overflowing with colorful little presents. I just could not help myself! My little sister and I would beg our parents to let us open just one present early. We could not wait for Christmas morning. We wanted to know what was in our packages, and we wanted to know now. You see, that is one big mistake I used to make. When I was growing up, I thought that Christmas was mostly about my presents and food and Santa Claus. It’s not. We usually do get some presents and eat good food and maybe get a visit from Santa. But the Christmas season is not really about presents at all. It is about presence. God’s presence.
During the Christmas season we are reminded that the children of God waited anxiously for his presence. And when the waiting was over they got something more amazing than they could have ever imagined. God did not just send a man to be messiah. God sent his son; he sent himself. That is why we call Jesus Emmanuel; it means “God with us” (Mt. 1:23). That is why Christmas is so important, because in Jesus, God came to be with his people. Christmas is not really about presents, it is about God’s presence in the world and in our lives.
With the birth of Jesus, something holy happened. The presence of God broke into the world like it never had before. Because God became flesh in Jesus that first Christmas, we meet Jesus in the people all around us. (That is one important part of the incarnation. By becoming a man, God redeemed what it means to be human.) We encounter him when talk to our neighbors in the yard, when we see our friends at school or the church building, when we serve the needy and give food to the hungry. We even come face to face with God when we see the people we do not like.
Each year at Christmas we remember God’s promises to his people and celebrate Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. But each Christmas we remember that we are also waiting with them. You see, Christmas is not just a time for us to remember, it is also a time of anticipation. At Christmas we also remember that we are still waiting for Christ to come. He promised us that he would return, so we are waiting too. When we think about God’s faithfulness in sending Jesus on that first Christmas, we are encouraged to keep waiting for the day Jesus returns.
So this year, I want to invite you to take a journey with me. I want us to travel through Scripture together to rediscover Christmas, or maybe to discover it for the very first time. In a world of instant gratification, hopefully we can recover the importance of waiting. In a world that tells us Christmas is about “presents”, maybe God will help us crave his “presence” in Christ, Emmanuel. In a world that tells us to celebrate the coming of Santa, maybe we can celebrate the first advent or coming of Christ and anticipate the day he will come again. This devotional guide is simple. Each night after dinner or before you go to bed, get together as a family or open the guide alone, and begin by reading the sentences to inspire. Next, sing one or some of the songs, and then think about the questions to ponder. As you do, let your imagination contemplate the real meaning of Christmas. Next, read the Scripture to savor. Don’t rush. Dwell in the texts. Talk about them as a family, or write your thoughts in a journal. Allow God to speak through silence and through the insights and thoughts of others. Finally, close in prayer. If you would like, you can start with the prayers in this guide, and then let your own prayers flow from there. Try to make sure that everyone in the family gets a chance to pray.
Each week there is an activity for families. If you do not have kids or are going through this devotional guide alone, try to modify the activities to meet your needs, but try to keep the spirit and essence of the activity in whatever you do.
May God give you the greatest gift of all:
Emmanuel, God’s presence with you.
_________________________________________
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (12th C. Christian Hymn)
O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
O come, Thou Dayspring come
And cheer our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go.
O come, Desire of nations,
Bind all peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to Thee, O Israel!
No comments:
Post a Comment