Twelve Days of Christmas

The tree has been lit all day. The table is cleaned of the remains of too much food available for grazing. The discarded wrapping paper has been bundled and bagged. Gifts are stacked in corners of the room, and the focus has moved to slouching in overstuffed chairs. The giving is over.

I would suggest we find a way to keep the giving going. With December 25^th, we begin the Twelve Days of Christmas with enough variety in its traditions almost anything will be acceptable if you want to recognize them. We all know the song by the same title. A different gift is presented each day, the number growing throughout the song. Some commercial interests would have us practice this before Christmas, but the traditions generally point to a post-Christmas celebration.

Rather than give the rather extraordinary gifts mentioned in the song, there are others not of a material nature that would be most appreciated by their recipients. These do not necessarily cost money, but they could involve some significant sacrifice on our parts. Their precious natures would be revealed in the impact they would have on both the one who gives and the one who receives.

The first group of gifts I would suggest is best known as the fruit of the Spirit. Listed in the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (5:22-23), these characteristics are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Each of the first nine days of the Twelve Days of Christmas might have one of these values as its focus. Each day we would offer this value as a gift to everyone we meet. How would this affect our relationships to the people who crossed our paths? Would we shock them? Would we be strengthening those relationships? Would we become an unexpected blessing to people who desperately needed one?

To finish out the twelve days, three other qualities would be quite in order. They might be mercy, forgiveness, and holiness. To be merciful (Luke 6:36) is to reflect the nature of our heavenly Father. It would include such activities as avoiding judgmentalism, giving someone a second chance, or refusing condemnation when we had every legal right to do so.

To be forgiving is also a reflection of the nature of God. (Matthew 18:21-35) To forgive is not to deny something wrong has happened. The opposite is true. No forgiveness is possible unless we admit something is owed or a wrong has been committed and the innocent have been hurt. Then we are able to say we will not be the judge, jury, and executioner. On the contrary forgiveness says we acknowledge the wrong but will demand no punishment. We will instead wipe the slate clean and move on with a new beginning. As such forgiveness expects a change as a response to the forgiveness.

The Apostle Peter reminds us we are to be like our heavenly Father even to the point of our separateness from the world around us. (I Peter 1:14-16) This does not mean we are to isolate ourselves from the world. Rather we are to live in such a fashion as to be identified with the God we worship and obey. This involves avoiding any compromise, any personal justification for disobedience, or any rationalizing a need for expediency. We are to be holy, set apart from the world, so we may be clearly identified as children of the God who loved us and sent his Son to die for us becoming our Lord and Savior.

Celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 should be the beginning of an effort to offer the world an opportunity to be different, to know hope, to see the True Light that can guide the lost into a life worth living. The transformation you may start in someone’s life by giving twelve intangible gifts will far exceed the value of any material present you might have given on Christmas Day.

A Not So Merry Christmas

A recent local newspaper headline inspired mixed emotions. In one story picture a half constructed house surrounded a young woman and her two children. The residence was being built under the program entitled Operation Finally Home.

The woman and her two preschool sons would receive this new home as a gift from the organization in appreciation of the sacrifice her family had made. This would be her third Christmas as a military widow, her Air Force husband, age 26, having been killed in Afghanistan in 2011. Her recent move to this area prompted the action from the sponsoring charity.

Around my home tiny lights seem to be everywhere. The Christmas tree has three strands and the pure white angel at the top carries a single torch in her hand. A small, decorative tree next to the grandfather clock has a similar strand woven through its limbs. Around our front door a green garland is lit by the same style of lights welcoming guests to our door.

They all contribute to a mood of brightness and joy, in eager anticipation of the special day only a week away. I cannot help but believe it will take more than several strings of lights along with green garlands and multicolored ornaments to bring such joy into the home mentioned above. There will be other family members present. Neighbors will come by to make sure every need is being met, every need but one.

This young widow is one of many individuals who will spend this Christmas not feeling quite as merry as the rest of us. Others will be marking perhaps a fifth, a tenth, or even more Christmases alone. Maybe they will be in their own home. Perhaps they will be in a home for those who can no longer care for themselves.

Others will be with a family member, but they won’t be at home. The circle of loved ones will be gathered around a hospital bed wondering what the night will bring.

Some will find themselves in a strange city scared with nowhere to turn. Decisions made in a moment of confusion and pain have brought them to a Christmas Eve they never thought they’d face.

The second chapter of the Gospel of Luke records the events in the life of a young woman who must have felt these same emotions. Mary went with her betrothed husband to a small town several days travel from her home. She was already far along in her pregnancy.

People coming to Bethlehem to register for the new taxes packed the village. Every room to rent for the night was taken. Joseph and Mary may have been in Bethlehem for several days when Mary realized they would never make it back to Nazareth in time for her to have her baby close to family.

The only person she knew was her husband. The only place offering any privacy was a stable. None of her family would be present to help. There would be no midwife. Mary must have felt very alone.

A manger filled with straw cradled the new born infant. Instead of admiring relatives, there were simple shepherds speaking of divine messengers and strange tidings of prophecies being fulfilled. Instead of the support a new mother should have been able to expect, Mary had to deal with a new baby in a strange town filled with strange folk.

A merry Christmas is not created by the gifts one receives or the music one hears or by all the decorations everywhere. These all help, but a merry Christmas is most often determined by who is sitting beside you, by who is there to share in all that Christmas means to you.

Mary had Joseph and a tiny infant whose destiny she did not understand. That young military widow has two young sons and other family members. No one need be, should be alone this Christmas, but it may take one of us to remind others the baby born so long ago is still here with us and will never leave us alone. (Matthew 28:20)

Now What Do You Get Those People?

They have all the money they need to buy whatever whenever. So what do you give them at Christmas? Those other people aren’t family or much more than acquaintances. Do you ignore them at Christmas, or do you try to come up with something cheap that will say they weren’t forgotten, just not valued very highly? Finally what do you give those old folks who don’t want anything for Christmas? They want your presence, not your presents, but you cannot be there on Christmas Day because of all the other things going on.

In my last blog I listed a few items I felt God wanted from me at Christmas and all year long. Perhaps those divine desires are the answer for what we should give these people, at Christmas and all year. There are gifts that are expensive but cost no money. There are gifts never appearing in a commercial that say to a person you are special, and you are worth my inconvenience to let you know how important you are to me. Emphasizing those kinds of gifts takes a major mind-shift for all of us.

God gave his Son, Jesus, the greatest gift of all. Through him we have hope and strength to face this life and the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23) freed from the evil of this world. The Apostle Peter describes the coming of the Holy Spirit as a divine gift. (Acts 2:38) Even our ability to serve God in this world in the power of the Holy Spirit is called a gift of God. (Romans 12; I Corinthians 12; I Peter 4)

With these as our examples God calls us to consider what are the best kind of gifts we can give those people around us. We think of expressions of love for those closest to us, family members, the best neighbors, and those who have the closest relationship to us in the family of faith. God would not have us forget the others that touch our lives. What shall we do for them?

How should I gift these people who are in my circle of acquaintances? The public servant, the representative in the medical field, the military personnel and the families supporting them, the family in the shelter, the individual in the prison, and the person we pass on the street could all use a gift this Christmas and a note saying they are remembered all year long. (Matthew 25) Our first concern is generally what can we buy for so many.

Consider this list of gifts whose costs are not necessarily measured in money:

·         Patience and a smile for the harried clerk

·         An encouraging and appreciative word for the tired postal worker

·         A quick forgiveness for the rude shopper

·         A quick apology even if you’re not the one at fault

·         A second chance for the repentant

·         Politeness in driving style

·         A handwritten note of appreciation handed to someone in passing

·         A few moments spent with a person facing loneliness

·         Donated hours of babysitting for a family

·         A plate of brownies and cookies for a public servant

·         A meal of soup and sandwiches shared with someone who might eat alone

·         A prayer of blessing for all people you meet today

There is one statement Jesus gave us that sums up the philosophy and the methodology behind this type of gifting. “Do to others what you would want them to do to you.” (Matthew 7:12) Sure, those big gift cards and packages that weigh 300 pounds are fabulous, but they can never replace drinking coffee at the shop with someone who is special to you. There is a lot of “stuff” you would trade for someone giving you another chance to make up for that big mistake. A good night’s sleep after a relationship has been mended is beyond the value of a stack of packages.

During these last days of Christmas shopping, don’t forget the gifts people need both during this season and year round. They are life transforming. They are the same gifts you need from them.

I Want to Give the Best

I believe it was a greeting card company who had as a part of their advertising efforts the slogan, “When you want to give the very best…”. They believed they had the best. They wanted you to believe they had the best. If you did, then you should feel obligated to buy their product. It was just good merchandising.

The concept of giving the very best brings different thoughts to all of us. A lot of it revolves around the motivation. Who deserves the best and why? What will it mean to us to give someone the best? Is it the best in our eyes or in the eyes of someone else?

There are times I want to give the best, my best. A few times I give only what is required by someone else. In each instance I am making a value judgment about what the person deserves and what I consider the good, better, best, or none of the above. That is what the person gets from me though I admit that is not always the best attitude to have.

We give Christmas presents the same way. The wall hanging made by fingers twisted by arthritis and needing five months to complete represents a “best” that money cannot buy. The crayon picture designed by a four-year-old and splattered with spilled chocolate milk is a priceless piece of art. Even the gift card for the local coffee shop says, “I thought of you. I know what you like best when it’s time to unwind. I hope this helps.”

This is a season of remembering, celebrating, and giving thanks. Our western society has added a heavy dose of giving material objects. Even if we do allow our involvement in the season to be measured by the amount of material gifts we give, we still make those value judgments. Who will receive a gift from us? How much will it cost in dollars, effort, or both? How personal will it be? How much of our own unique personhood will the gift represent?

When God decided to give the very best, he gave Himself (Matthew 1:18-23). The season of Thanksgiving was originally directed solely toward God. His providence had made survival possible whether for the journey or through the winter. The season of Christmas should be just as much a season of thanksgiving. There would be no hope of salvation at Calvary without the miraculous birth at Bethlehem.

God gave us his best. What are we offering him during this season of celebration and thanksgiving? God gave his best. He deserves our best in return. Will that cost be measured in dollars, in time, or in some other form of personal sacrifice?

We often make a list of gifts we want to give to others at Christmas. Perhaps it is based upon what we want to give others. Maybe it is based upon what we know they would want. God wants what we are willing to give. He wants us to be willing to give what he desires most.

What does God desire most from you? What will you do to make sure God gets what he wants from you this Christmas?

Here is a short list of what I see God wanting from me:

My love

My attention

A malleable heart

A sensitive spirit

A generous attitude

A bold vision

A courageous stand

An eager desire to grow in Christlikeness

A total submission to the Lordship of the Holy Spirit

He knows what the cost will be for me to give him the gifts he wants. He becomes all and I become nothing. He claims everything and I claim nothing. He receives all glory and I receive nothing. He exercises all power and I exercise nothing.

This Christmas God wants all things from me so he may give me all things. When I have given him everything and I am empty, then he can fill me with the greatest gifts of all, his divine love and eternal presence (Ephesians 1:13-14; I John 3:24)). They were given in Bethlehem. He still gives them today.