Christmas

What is Christmas to you? Does it have the deeper meaning that goes beyond the white fur lined red suit worn by a cheery, red faced,white bearded portly man? I hope so. This post was started on Christmas day, and already I have seen Christmas in action.

While out at the local cemetery to think and reflect, I couldn’t help but notice the number of people coming out of cars into the cold foggy morning air to do the same. It’s a time to look back on our loved ones who are not here now to enjoy this happy time. For some, this is a very sad time, and a ‘Happy Christmas’ is nowhere to be heard. But among the still grieving, there were the children running around in the happy spirit of the day, grasping one of their gifts that appeared under the tree earlier this morning. Children have a very simple view of Christmas, and at times I envy them.

As I drove home, there was the well dressed teenager, very carefully carrying a few gifts in his arms, looking worried that he might drop one. Let me speculate. He was too young to be married, and too old to be the simple child we spoke about earlier. My thinking is that he was on his way to the love of his young life, bearing presents that he hopes she will like. To top his appearance off (literally) he was sporting a white fur trimmed red hat with a white bauble on top. He didn’t care who saw him, because his mind (and possibly heart) was already taken elsewhere with thoughts of love. A carer was making her way from a house where she would have tended to the needs of someone who would not get through the day without her. There was a group of working men in and around a big hole in the ground, I suspect trying to fix a problem which affected the community. And then small groups of families walking to meet, greet, and give gifts to their own, perhaps to enjoy Christmas dinner.

A happy tradition carried on in my daughters, is the Christmas family dinner where mums, dads, children, grandparents and friends are all invited to sit round the big table to enjoy the food lovingly prepared for this particular occasion. When the normal seating is all used, out come the stools and the odd chairs, so that everyone is included and welcome. This doesn’t happen at any other time of year, so everybody joins in the fun, wearing those funny hats from the Christmas cracker and telling the jokes printed on the slip of paper for your enjoyment. If you are fortunate, you might even get a little plastic toy or puzzle to show around.

Eventually, there comes the time to push back from the table having eaten more than you should have, and after loosening your now too tight belt a few notches for comfort, the clearing up begins. The presents stacked under the tree and wrapped so carefully, are ripped open to reveal the needed, wanted, and funny gifts we love. There is coloured wrapping paper strewn everywhere that also needs to be gathered up by the host and/or hostess. After weeks of preparation and planning this lovely slap up meal, it is over so quickly for another year. Chances are we'll do it all again, because it brings us closer together!

It’s a good idea to use the ‘why’ question often asked by young children who want to understand something. They keep on asking ‘why’ until they are satisfied, and only then do they stop asking. Why the gifts? Why sing those same Carols every year? Why the decorated tree? Why the celebration? Why santa, and where does he fit in? Why was all this started in the first place? Asking the searching ‘why’ questions always brings you back to the baby Jesus born into the poverty of an occupied land. To many, His chances of survival would seem slim, but survive He did, and more than that! This helpless baby born to poor parents would grow up into a miracle working, death defying, life changing Saviour. In the space of some 33 years this Jesus would do no wrong, but ironically be murdered in cold blood for His selfless, pure life. But the story doesn’t end there. The God-man defeated death, rose from the grave, and only after being seen by multitudes of people, went back to God His Father where He is now interceding on our behalf. This life is well documented in the Gospels and secular writings so there is no doubt in the sure foundation of our salvation.

Let’s live as though every day is Christmas Day!

But What?

But I came to give life—life that is full and good. John 10:10 ERV
But you refuse to come to me to have that life. John 5:40 ERV

You can’t help but ask the obvious question. Why? The leaders of the church in Jesus’ time knew everything, or at least they thought they did. They knew their scriptures inside out and back to front, and this Jesus was obviously an imposter. They could see it, and they questioned anyone else that thought differently. They never stopped being taught, even when they became Scribes and Pharisees. The trouble is they never really learned. We can see that being the case in secular life, so why not in the synagogue?

The parallel is uncannily similar today, and the question is the same. Given the promise of real, full, abundant life for free, why would anyone turn their back on it? The Pharisees couldn’t see it and today there are those who know better, both in the general church and outside it. It’s not that the gift of life isn’t offered in our day and age because it is, and the cost is the same, it is a free gift. Full life for the living is free.

We have advanced in so many ways since Jesus’ day. Science and technology have taken over, and we can talk our way out of anything. That last part hasn’t changed from the Pharisees’ day. The biggest difference today is that we may have convinced ourselves that Jesus was an imposter, or a lunatic, or a liar. Maybe a bit of all three. This is made easier since society has downgraded church and Jesus to a mere side show. When you dismiss the gospel of Jesus Christ, His life, death and resurrection, you can ignore anything He might have said. In fact, you can ignore all of the Bible as a fairy tale.

If you were offered a gift of something you wanted and needed greatly, wouldn’t you at least give the giver a chance by taking the gift and seeing if it is true? Are you so arrogant and sure of yourself that you would turn away from it without a second thought? We haven’t come very far as a human race since Jesus’ time, and I suggest we are no different today.

Investment

Imagine for a moment you are in the fortunate position of receiving a large windfall of unearned, unexpected cash in the order of a few million pounds or dollars. Who cares at the accuracy of that figure? I know it may not be likely, so I did say ‘imagine’!! Let your mind free wheel for a minute. What’s the first thing you would want to do? I don’t know about you, but I would want to be sure I didn’t waste it, or worse still, lose it.

You suddenly become very attached to your windfall, and instead of it being some theoretical exercise, it becomes so real that you want to protect your investment. But wait a minute, this only becomes an investment when you decide to make it one. You have never had anything like this in your life, and you know it will only happen this one time. So you are very protective, and rightly so. You and I would be very strange people if we didn’t care. We become excited and want to do some good with all this money. You can help disadvantaged children. You could help advance medical science and research. You could make sure your family never want for anything in their lives.

The truth is you and I have already been offered a gift of unimaginable wealth. We didn’t earn it or work for it, and we accepted it. Being a gift, it was free. All we have to do is reach out and take it. But there are many people who do not trust a free gift like this one because there might be a hidden catch. So the gift is not able to help you, or anyone else. Our great gift makes the biggest change in our life we could imagine. Except this time we don’t have to imagine. This gift of life from God is something we can own when we accept it. Salvation is not a pipe dream. Once we have accepted this free gift, we can help pass on our excitement and thankfulness to others. You wouldn’t stay quiet with a few million pounds in the investment fund, so why do we stay quiet when we have the guarantee of this amazing gift from the greatest and trusted source in reality?

The Gift of Grace

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9 ESV.

It’s your child’s birthday, and you buy a gift, wrap it lovingly, and hide it so that it can’t be found before the big day. After the family dinner, the cake is presented, the candles blown out, and now there is the giving of the gift. “Have you been good this year?” you ask. “Did you do everything you were told by mum and dad?” followed quickly by “Have you had good school grades?” If you have done all these things, we can give you a gift now. What a strange set of circumstances to unfold at a birthday party. What parent would do such a thing to their child?

I love the idea of God’s Grace. It’s free for the asking from a full heart. It has nothing to do with how much I deserve it, or have worked for it. I can’t brag about it, and I am saved through it. Going back to the child at the birthday party, the gift does not become anything to the child until it is given, and accepted. So it is with God’s Grace. It doesn’t become ours until we accept the gift that is offered freely. All we have to do is take it. None of us wants the justice we deserve, but we all do need mercy, and Grace is that perfect gift. It’s yours and mine for the taking, so why not accept it?