I think we have the Christmas gift thing mixed up. Its not that I'm against giving (or receiving) gifts, but when we actually stop and ask, what is Christmas is all about, we seem to go in one of two directions.
First, we might ask "what could I give Jesus for Christmas?" Presumptuous, I know, but the heart is one of devotion, seeking to honor Christ with our lives, our gifts and our heart.
Or, we might ask "what would I receive from Jesus this Christmas?" Perhaps this just a more focused, seasonally heightened prayer request, but if its anything like mine, its focus, aim and goal usually falls way short.
Well, what if we crumpled all of the above like so much old Christmas wrapping paper? What if we found our guidance in the Holy Spirit and in the ebb and flow of God's Word?
For instance, consider Luke 18. While there is a lot in this chapter, I think Luke uses a great, subtle teaching technique by repeating overlapping truths in various parables and narrative accounts so that if one section doesn't hit us, the next one might. So, in one chapter we have God giving justice, a tax collector calling for mercy, the disciples learning that all things are possible with God, that Jesus journey to Jerusalem will result not in glorious, messianic victory, but painful, ignominious defeat, and that seeking the mercy of Jesus is worth more than any social custom or anyone's opinion of us.
Beyond this, Luke 18, like other sections of this book, is a study in contrasts. God vs the judge. Tax collector vs Pharisee. Child-like faith vs "grown-up" faith. A love for Christ himself vs a love for all that Christ can (and does) give us. A vision to do God's will God's way vs a desire to do God's will my way. A willingness to defy all conventions to see (really see) Jesus vs obeying all conventions and missing (really missing) Jesus although he is right in front of us.
So, whether I zero in on the tax collector, who really grasped his position before God and his desperate need for God's mercy and grace or the blind man who defied all social and religious customs because he too desperately knew he was both helpless and hopeless without Jesus, my prayer and my plea this Christmas is that I want to see Jesus. This prayer is not just to see him in passages like Luke 18, but to see him as Paul says in Eph 1, with the eyes of my heart. To see him in his fullness, in his deity, in his humanity, as prophet, priest and king, as redeemer, as intercessor, as brother and as friend. Along with this, I need God's gracious reminder that on my own I am desperate, helpless and hopeless. The only reason to tenacious cling to Christ by faith is a firm knowledge that letting go results in ruin.
After nearly fifty years I think it is starting to sink in that while Christmas may be a great time to discipline our selfish hearts and actually be generous (not just pretend or talk about it), the reality is that we are never truly the giver. Christmas is about a gift given. A life lived. A death died. A price paid. A relationship restored. A victory won.
May Jesus invade your Christmas this year in a great, glorious and perhaps unexpected way so that the focus is not so much on us but on Him. And not just Him in the manger, but on the cross and at the right hand of the Father and on the cusp of His return.
I pray that we each may take some time this year to consider not what we can give to Jesus, but what we so desperately need from Him and then have the humility and child-like faith to plead for it.
To God Alone be the Glory
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