Tonight, as I watched all my nieces and nephews rip into their presents, I delighted in their pure joy! Seeing their faces light up with each gift really made me happy. Had I been their age, I'd have been more focused on what I was getting and wouldn't even notice what they were getting...where did this change come from?!
With little doubt, it HAD to be when I started learning more about the 'Reason of the Season'. Sure, even though I didn't grow up going to church...I was aware of the Christmas story. Back in those days, it was common to see Nativity scenes everywhere and I was the kid that would ask, "What's up with this?". My mom would tell me the short version of the story and that was enough for me. At that age, it was still about the presents on Christmas morning that mattered most! As I grew older, I got my hands on a Bible and read it from cover to cover...a number of times. I confess that I didn't understand everything I read and confess, yet again that I still don't. But the story of Jesus' birth ALWAYS intrigued me. Everything about it seemed extraordinary! That Mary, a virgin would give birth to a baby and that Joseph would stay with Mary after learning of her pregnancy KNOWING that he hadn't 'been' with her always blew my mind. Sure, an angel gave them BOTH a heads up, but I'm not sure that I wouldn't have written the messenger off as a weird dream or something had this happened to me! Ok?! HOW does this begin the transition from finding the best joy of being a receiver to finding the greater joy to being a giver? It's in, as Paul Harvey would say, "the REST of the story".
EVEN if you don't believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior...you HAVE to admit, he was an AMAZING giver! At 30, Jesus committed his life to blessing through healing. Blind received sight, lepers were healed, dead lived again, etc....he DID do some extraordinary things to the benefit of those that would cross his path! The Bible is silent on Jesus' life from 12-30...I contend that Jesus was going through an important process of life that we ALL must go through and it's in this process that I believe we ALL go from being receivers to becoming givers! There's a development that has to take place! Somewhere, we have to embrace a Mark 10:31 moment of NEW reality! Did Jesus come to lord over us or did the King of kings, Lord Jesus come to serve us? For Christians, Jesus is the standard...impossible standard, but he IS the example of how Christians are to live. He's reversed ALL logic...kings don't 'serve'...they GET served. As Mark 10:31 says, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first"...wouldn't THAT change everything?! Imagine giving a gold medal to the person that came in last and nothing to the person that actually won the race! As weird as it reads...it IS the transition that I'm talking about!
Remember, when I was a child, my best delight on Christmas morning was tearing through endless amounts of wrapping paper unveiling the new treasures that were intended for me. But now, as someone that has benefitted from age, receiving gifts has become less enjoyable...don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting gifts but I've come to a point in my life (process) where I get more excited over seeing someone delight in a gift that I've given them! In fact, I'd wager that the delight I get from giving outlasts that of the recipient! As the magic of Santa has faded for me I've become mystified of the miracle of Jesus! His process inspires me in my own! For Him, it started with the hands of an infant becoming the hands of a carpenter to becoming the hands of a healer....ONLY to have those same hands nailed to a cross for MY sins! Jesus is the ultimate giver and I believe that He has laid out a process for us all!
We ALL start off with the hands of infants...desperately in need for nurturing. The last mention of Jesus as a boy is when He was 12 years old...in Luke 2:41-47, He was in the temple listening to the religious leaders and challenging them with his own wisdom. Obviously, Jesus had the advantage...being born God assures this! But for you and I, it's an important part of the process! We have to pay attention to the teaching and respond to it to the best of our ability! The 'missing years' are important, too! In Jesus' day, it would have been normal for him to spend years at his earthly father's side learning the family trade. Joseph, Jesus' earthly father was a carpenter. More than likely, this occupation didn't look like those of 'carpenters' of today. Today, this title might make one think of building furniture out of wood and such. But back then, a carpenter was more like a contractor. It would involve building anything from furniture to building bridges, repairing and building of homes, etc....in short, it was a job of meeting whatever need that was known by the people of the community for a monetary fee. This is an important part of our process as we're surrounded by people with needs of all shapes and sizes. At 30, Jesus begins His ministry...in THIS period of the process...he gives us the example of giving without a fee...He was going to pay that for us later! In His ministry years, Jesus proved selfless...right up to the day that those same hands would be nailed to a cross.
I believe that the TRUE Christmas magic comes in the attitude of selflessness! I'm FAR from being selfless, but I'm MUCH closer to its hope than I was as a child. I know this because tonight, I delighted more in the smiles of the children as they opened the presents that I had given them than I did when I opened my present. I know this because I'm moved MORE by the example of Jesus than I ever was by the belief in Santa. I still love Santa...but, he's a one day out of the year kind of selflessness. Jesus is 365 days out of the year...I pray that we ALL celebrate selflessness in our lives and celebrate a 'magic' greater than Christmas morning for children!
Merry Christmas!
