Loading...One year, a day or two before Christmas, my dad had the brilliant idea that we would completely buck the trend and common practice of opening all of our presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
“No, no, no! That’s too frantic to open them all at once!
It won’t allow us to savor our gifts and
to fully appreciate the care with which they were chosen and given.”
At least, this was his rationale.
Despite the protests of my sister and I
and my mother’s rolled eyes –
she must have rolled those eyes all the way to the backs of her eye sockets! –
this was indeed how we opened our gifts in the Christmas season of 1981.
One gift each on Christmas Eve (you want to make sure you pick well. I did not)
One gift each on Christmas Day (a second chance to pick well.)
One gift each on the 26th (argh)
and on and on, until we were done.
Except, of course, some people who shall remain unnamed, but here’s a clue – the guy with the idea – ran out of gifts earlier than the others;
and the others in the family got pretty cranky about this method of
the Opening of the Gifts.
This should not surprise you: that was the only year we did that!
Yet, there really was something to this idea,
and I suspect this is really what my dad was trying to help us all be a part of:
The gift of Christ is for each and every day;
The birth of the Messiah is not limited to one night or one day.
Rather, it is something that happens over and over again,
in all of the days and moments of everyday life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s lovely to be here with the carols, the stories, the decorations, with friends and family gathered near.
But, in truth, this night is not really about beautiful memories,
or even about traditional observance of the baby Jesus in the manger surrounded by shepherds and animals with angels singing overhead.
If we leave Christmas at that, then we’ve made it more about ourselves than about what God is doing and what God is up to.
If we get all caught up in the surroundings of Christmas,
we might miss the core of what’s going on –
the Incarnation, God in human form in all of its fragility and brokenness, God coming down to be with us.
This, my friends, is SO. Very. Different than other understandings of God.
This night, like every night and like every day,
gives us the chance to ask:
How is the Christ born today, right here in your life?
How does the gift of God’s presence with us change us?
This night, like every night and every day gives us the chance to ask:
How is Christ born and alive
• in the squirming child
• in the difficult parent whose loving self and quick mind have been robbed by dementia
• even in the midst of racism
• in the challenges to the way you’ve thought things would “always” be
• in the struggles of unemployment, even the voluntary kind
• as you feel overwhelmed by our violent and chaotic world
• in the midst of despair about ecological disasters
• in grief born of heartache, loss, betrayal, or uncertainty?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Light of the World given on this holy night
is a light that comes to where we are on any night
and makes it a holy night too.
The Light of the World born on this earth is the grace of God
today and everyday.
Even though it will take several years after this birth of Jesus for his life to unfold and manifest as the true Messiah and Savior,
the gift was given in its fullness on that holy night,
and on every day for all time and for all people.
The angels proclaimed it,
the shepherds were sent to tell the news,
and you are asked to live in this goodness of the Word made flesh –
of Emmanuel – God with us –
and to open this gift of hope, joy, and grace each and everyday
as Christ breaks into your life with love everlasting.
Amen
