The angel said to them, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people; for there is born to you this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”
There will be no gifts under the tree tomorrow morning. No stockings to unstock. No surprises, no orange peels, no paper.
Every once in awhile we change up Christmas. This year, is our “off” year, meaning our family will gather over New Years for Christmas morning. I say that so you won’t feel sorry for me. It does mean some adjusting when it comes to holiday expectations. A willingness to adapt benefits me with heightened sensitivity, not unlike fasting where the senses pique with receptivity. The rewards can be deeply satisfying.
Two years ago, Gord worked through the holidays and our family was away so I invited two young women, Chinese PhD students I met at Regent College, to spend Christmas with me. To date, it was the quietest Christmas I have known and even though it rained, all the world felt as if it had snowed — quiet and bright — my focus shifted from ensuring everyone had everything they needed or could want, to a deep quietude; I felt a settledness, a visceral awareness of the understated reality of the Gospel — earth’s visitation by its Creator, who came to us, to me personally, as an infant. I went to church twice that year — Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. A small band of faithful folk gathered to receive a foretaste of our inheritance and to give thanks.
To you he came, scripture says. Martin Luther writes, “O, this is the great joy of which the angels speaks. This is the comfort and exceeding goodness of God that, if anyone believes this, he can boast of the treasure that Mary is his rightful mother, Christ his brother, and God his father. For these things actually occurred and are true, but we must believe. This is the principal thing and the principal treasure in every Gospel. Christ must above all things become our own and we become his. This is what is meant by Isaiah 9:6: ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.’ To you is born and given this child.” (Watch for the Light, 222)
My gift to you this Christmas is a prayer. I pray that we may open our hearts and minds to Christ, and let our roots grow deep into his marvelous love, so that He may be more and more at home in us (Ephesians 3:17). Every gift under the tree represents the principal treasure of Christ Himself! He is the reward of faith — the Gift of Life and Love! May we fling wide the door, invite Him to make Himself at home, receive Him with great joy and give thanks.
“Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth with those whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:14)
