As I worshipped during the service of Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve, I heard the preacher encourage us to receive the gift of Jesus Christ. Here's where my mind wandered: Yes, it is important to unwrap God's present or open the dusty box to really receive the healing, the peace, the love that is offered to us at Christmas. But if I really receive and put on the gift of Christ (Galatians 3:27), my life will be changed from the inside out. This gift is not one that stays on the surface, but soaks into the heart, the head, the wholeness of my humanity. It permeates my life and changes my world. I cherish the little text about the mystery of the resurrection and how we shall all be changed in the end: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (I Corinthians 15:52). We will be changed! Yes, we will be changed in the end, but I also think we are changed in the middle of life. Whenever we truly receive the gift, we are changed. The gift of Jesus Christ will not be received with staid politeness; rather this gift will turn our lives upside down and right side up.
When I consider all the political insults and slurs that are flowing so freely in this season, I wonder whether these politicians, who insist that we say, "Merry Christmas!" have really taken the gift to heart. If so, how can they continue to denigrated other people with such antagonistic and inflammatory rhetoric? Is this not to spurn the gift of God and harden one's heart and close one's mind?
I also wandered away for awhile when the choir sang of peace: Dona Nobis Pacem ("Grant Us Peace"). It is a prayer and a plea for peace in a troubled world. When the music ended, I sat, reflecting about how we want peace at the end--when we feel as though we have triumphed, when we or our own ideology has prevailed--when we have won. We want peace to be the period at the end of our conflict. Do we also want peace in the middle of the trouble, before an ending is clear? Do we want God to intervene and intrude before we have won the war? Grant Us Peace, O God, but only when it is convenient for us. Grant us peace in our souls while we engage in warfare in the world. Grant us peace when our drones have hit their targets and our borders are impermeable. Grant us peace when we have ordered things to suit ourselves.
And finally, I thought about losers. One candidate, in particular, uses that word, "Loser," a lot. I think about that baby in a manger this morning. He did not enter the world as a winner; nor did he exit it as such. A cradle and a cross do not a winner make. So I guess, I'd rather align my life with this Loser--and be humble enough to claim that designation for myself--than to be a boisterous winner.
It is amazing where we wander when we enter the sanctuary. How will all of this transform my thinking and change my life? While I cannot answer with certainty, I feel a journey has begun on Christmas Eve. May it be so for you as well.
Blessed Christmas!
When I consider all the political insults and slurs that are flowing so freely in this season, I wonder whether these politicians, who insist that we say, "Merry Christmas!" have really taken the gift to heart. If so, how can they continue to denigrated other people with such antagonistic and inflammatory rhetoric? Is this not to spurn the gift of God and harden one's heart and close one's mind?
I also wandered away for awhile when the choir sang of peace: Dona Nobis Pacem ("Grant Us Peace"). It is a prayer and a plea for peace in a troubled world. When the music ended, I sat, reflecting about how we want peace at the end--when we feel as though we have triumphed, when we or our own ideology has prevailed--when we have won. We want peace to be the period at the end of our conflict. Do we also want peace in the middle of the trouble, before an ending is clear? Do we want God to intervene and intrude before we have won the war? Grant Us Peace, O God, but only when it is convenient for us. Grant us peace in our souls while we engage in warfare in the world. Grant us peace when our drones have hit their targets and our borders are impermeable. Grant us peace when we have ordered things to suit ourselves.
And finally, I thought about losers. One candidate, in particular, uses that word, "Loser," a lot. I think about that baby in a manger this morning. He did not enter the world as a winner; nor did he exit it as such. A cradle and a cross do not a winner make. So I guess, I'd rather align my life with this Loser--and be humble enough to claim that designation for myself--than to be a boisterous winner.
It is amazing where we wander when we enter the sanctuary. How will all of this transform my thinking and change my life? While I cannot answer with certainty, I feel a journey has begun on Christmas Eve. May it be so for you as well.
Blessed Christmas!
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