This past Sunday at our church we had our annual “Christmas gifts to Jesus” service and offering. This is a service/offering where we can give either monetary or tangible items “to Jesus.” After the service I helped move many of the tangible gifts out of the auditorium and into a room for temporary storage.
As I was grabbing the gifts one caught my attention and my heart. It wasn’t wrapped in fancy paper or a pretty bow, it wasn’t even that big. In fact it was wrapped in brown paper with a generic red and green ribbon and was about the size of the envelopes gift cards come in. So what was so special about this gift? Well on the top left corner in little kid writing were the words:
For: Jesus
From: The Child's name.
From: The Child's name.
There was nothing truly remarkable about that gift, but the simple childlike faith touched my heart. I wonder if that kid really believed he was giving Christ a present. I bet he did. I wonder if the adults who gave really believed they were giving to Christ. They most likely didn’t. I don’t know what was in that tiny little package. I most likely never will. But the lesson will live with me forever. I wish I had taken a picture of it. Of the simple childlike faith. Here's the truth:
Recently I wrote a poem on what it
truly means to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” [Here’s the Link: The
Religion Revolution: Getting Christ in Christmas (A Christmas Poem) ]The
point that I’m trying to make through the poem is that we Christians are too
adamant about saying “keep Christ in
Christmas” rather than living “keep
Christ in Christmas.” I explain that the true way to “Keep Christ in Christmas”
and live it out is by living out Christ.
That is done two ways: sharing the
good news of Christ, and by giving to others. Christ told us in Luke 19:10 that
He came “to seek and to save.” Our first priority this season concerning “keeping
Christ in Christmas” is telling others of the greatest Gift ever given −
salvation.
Our second priority in “Keeping Christ
in Christmas” is to give back to Jesus. Now here’s where it gets tricky. Let me
try to explain. Christ gave unto something we can never repay. The least we can
do is give some back. But we can’t give tangible gifts to Christ. Not really. He’s
in Heaven preparing a home for us. Yet we still can give to Christ tangible
gifts.
So how do we give back to Christ? By
this: giving unto others. Sure we can give to others that we love. But that’s not
enough. People in the world can do that.
We need to give to those who are unlovely. That’s what Christ did for us. While
we were unlovely, Christ still loved us. Not only should we give to unlovely
but we should give to those who can never give back, who can never repay us. It’s
easy to give when we know that we’re going to get something back. But it takes
a real Christian to give with no expectation of returns. And again, Christ did
that for us. He gave what we could not pay, and cannot be repaid.
His gift is final. Salvation once
received cannot be lost, returned, exchanged or voided. What an amazing
thought! That’s how our lives for Christ should be. And our love for others.
You may be wondering what does this have to do
with giving back to Christ and keeping Him in Christmas. Well, here’s the deal:
By giving to others we giving to Christ. Jesus told His disciples:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave
me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me
in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or
when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.(–Matthew 25:35-40)
In this parable Christ is the King,
the servants are the disciples, and us-21st century disciples. What
we do unto the “least of these” we do as unto Christ. It can also be said this
way: what we give unto to others, we
give as unto Christ. That is how giving
unto others especially those who cannot repay us, is how we “Keep Christ in Christmas.”
As Christians our goal, our model, is
Christ. Because of that we must live as He lived, therefore, this Christmas, we
must give as He gave- unconditionally, freely, and indiscriminately.
It’s easy to read all that I’ve
written and say, “That’s so true!”or “Hmm I’ve never thought of it that way.”
The hard part is putting it to action. It’s a personal choice that must be
acted upon. So here’s my challenge: Act! Do something! Keep Christ in Christmas
by sharing the message of His Gift, and give unto others who cannot repay you.
Give out of love and with the heart of Christ.
I’m going to do it. I challenge you to
do likewise. Before you argue with the cashier for saying “Happy Holidays,”
focus on the person in line behind you who can’t pay for all their gifts. Find
a low income family that needs gifts, give an hour at a soup kitchen on
Christmas day—yes I said ON Christmas day. Buy some bikes and toys for the
foster kids on your block, give that homeless man more than spare change. Whatever you do, do it with the
attitude of “I don’t expect anything from this for me. Not compensation,
recognition, or even inward peace. Do it
for the fact that you are doing it for One and One only, the King of Kings, Who
became a baby and gave us a gift like no other. Do this and I believe you can
truly say “I kept Christ in Christmas.”
For:
Jesus
From: Me
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