Learning from Christmas for the Whole Year

I had a different kind of Christmas this year. I went through a lot of my normal rituals: putting up the decorations; making my special Almond Butter Toffee; buying and wrapping gifts; reading Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and then watching several of my favorite movies, etc. But a few things were also different.

First, our former church closed at the end of March and we are currently working on gathering leaders for our new church. However, this means we did not do our usual free gift-wrapping outreach. Nor did we have a Christmas Eve candlelight service. Nor did we put on a special service on the Sunday before Christmas. So, my church routine has been disrupted. (Now, we did have a couple of new Christmas experiences with our new and growing church family. So, the promise of new traditions is awakened.)

Second, we did not have any celebration with either my family or my wife's family. I realized that this was the first time in my life that I did not spend time with some part of our extended family, ever.

Third, I opened only one gift on Christmas day--and I had both purchased it and wrapped it myself (although the label said it was from my wife).

Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not complaining--just observing. I am not sure if this means something, but it does feel like a kind of life-passage.

As I thought about it on the day after Christmas, I realized that it was one of the nicest Christmases I've had in awhile. My wife and I read the Christmas story to one another on Christmas Eve and we were  both overcome with a lot of emotion. Tears flowed. The wonder of what God has done for us washed over us.

Then we had friends join us to watch The Nativity Story and--more tears.

I had gotten gifts for friends and their children who seemed to really enjoy them. I played Scrabble with three young'ns for whom it was a first time. I had a blast.

In Acts 20: 35, Paul quotes Jesus (from an unknown source), "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Perhaps this is really the "true meaning of Christmas". God gave the greatest gift of all time. As Paul says in 2 Cor. 9: 15: "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

In The Nativity Story, Mary says to the old shepherd, "We have all been given a gift." God's generosity overflowed to all mankind. And we have all been given the greatest of all gifts.

And at the same time, we have been shown what a blessing true generosity can be. In the end, it is not about what we get, but about what we give. Our generosity is a reflection of the very heart of God:
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8: 9).

Don't let such godliness wait only for the Christmas season. Let us determine to grow in the coming year so that we "excel in this grace of giving" (2 Cor. 8: 7) all the time.