One of the Christmas ‘traditions’ for many of us is the unwrapping of gifts that we have received during the holidays. Most often Christmas morning is when families gather around a finely decorated tree and discover the treasures they have anticipated for weeks or maybe months. It is usually a lot of fun, yet performed in many different fashions. At the same time, unwrapping Christmas started weeks prior to December 25th. It started with decorating our homes, both inside and out. It started with baking all sorts of goodies that few of us actually need, but all of us want. It starts in our stores way back in September. It is a monstrous season that gets unwrapped all around us.
For many of us, this ‘monstrous’ season can be a bit overwhelming. It is so full of so much that we can miss the simplicity of a child born to an unwed, virgin teenager in a town far from her home, in a cave that was normally used to house and feed livestock. On that night, angels announced the coming of the promised Messiah to a group of shepherds who were disallowed from worshipping in the temple in Jerusalem. So, God brought the Messiah to them in their field so they could be the first to worship Him. In all of God’s glory He reveals Himself as a baby, fully God yet fully man. What an amazing idea. How strange it seems that God would become a man, and even wilder that He would come as a newborn… human yet God from a miraculous conception by the Spirit of God. Seems so outlandish doesn’t it. But then again, maybe it is the only way it would actually work. Any other manner would be impossible for us to relate to. Only by coming the way He did can we actually understand and connect.
That baby didn’t stay a baby. He grew up. He walked among us. He talked with us. He taught us. He loved us. He challenged us. He convicted us. He encouraged us. He valued us. He risked for us. He suffered for us. He died for us. He rose for us. He ascended for us. He waits for us. He is coming back for us. He will reign as King for us.
Therefore, He can be unwrapped in us and through us. He has done that in the lives of billions of people over the years. He has done that in many of those at Quest and in other churches in our community, city, state, country, and around the world. He is not satisfied with us having a season of celebration, but He wants us to have lives of transformation. He want us to humbly share with the world the hope that only He brings to the broken mess of life.
This week we will begin to ‘unwrap’ Christmas for 2019.
Yours,
Kevin