making sense of Christmas

By now everyone is into the annual ritual of trying to de-emphasize the commercial side of Christmas and seeking the spiritual side. "Jesus is the reason for the season" is the regular reminder of Christian parents to their children. While kids are starry-eyed over the presents they will receive and what Santa will bring to them, parents are redirecting attention to the importance of giving (more about this later).

Most people's favorite Christmas story is from Luke. That story reads well and is the source of nativity scenes and Christmas plays. From this story shepherds, Angels, mangers, stars, etc. become the Christmas icons. My favorite Christmas story is in John 1: 1, 14 (everybody can memorize this Christmas story :-)

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. .. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

This story brings a profound Christmas message. In the Incarnate Christ we have the solution (grace) to the problem. (truth). The truth is that we are born at enmity with God (inheritance from Adam) and we have no way home on our own. This is quite a problem. The solution is grace which came to us at this very first Christmas. Remember, grace is the opposite of Social Exchange, which is the truth of how we operate in our nature (the flesh).  Grace is not expecting when we give and not being obligated when we receive. The gift of Grace is being able to love another person free from all expectations because that is what God did for us at Christmas, came to us free of expectations and full of love.

The byproducts of Grace and Truth are peace and joy (two words on many Christmas cards). Peace is more than the absence of turmoil, it is the presence of all that is good (Shalom). As I discussed in the previous blog, joy is not happiness. Joy is a state of well being based on the excitement of knowing we have Peace.

This gets me to the main point of Christmas. I think we mistakenly focus too much on giving, forcing our children to see that Christmas is ALL about our giving. The truth is that Christmas is about our receiving. Children grow up to be adults like us and they cannot receive. Giving lets us maintain a sense of control, receiving makes us vulnerable. We must trust the Giver. Its receiving Christ that ultimately transforms us, not OUR giving. He gave, we receive. The Gospel is full of admonition for us to receive Jesus (ex. John 1:12, Col 2: 6-7). The Good News that comes to us at Christmas is that Grace overcomes the truth about ourselves, and in doing so, we are never the same. We become givers not out of duty or expectation of getting BUT because giving becomes our nature and Grace becomes the way we make sense of ourself and the world around us.
 =*..*=

All we have to do is receive the gift!!
That, my friend, is Joy to the World  ......