The hall filled quickly, and with the guest of honor ensconced at the head table as usual, already surrounded by well wishers. Most, however, just gathered in clusters, basically there for the party. There were songs and toasts, feasts, treats and laughter; and gifts for everyone, except one. <\/p>\n
Another Christmas and no present for the Birthday Boy.<\/p>\n
But what do you get for the Person who has everything \u2013 who IS everything? Besides, anything we could give Him came from<\/i> Him. Still, remember how we felt when our son or daughter handed us a present they picked out and paid for all on their own? It was no less precious because the money to pay for it had come from us. There must be something we can give the Child in the manger this year.<\/p>\n
As usual, Scripture gives us some clues. Through Isaiah, God tells Israel \u2013 and us – it\u2019s not burnt offerings He wants; He wants us to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the widow, plead for the orphan (Isaiah 1:12-17). Through Hosea, He counsels steadfast love, not sacrifice, is what He desires (Hosea 6:6). Finally, Jesus tells those who criticized Him for eating with sinners, \u201cGo and learn what this means, \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice\u2019\u201d (Matthew 9:13).<\/p>\n
Love and mercy; how do we package and gift-wrap love and mercy? We package them into small acts of great kindness. We give our love to the newborn Christ by giving it to others.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a short list of gift suggestions. I\u2019m sure we can each come up with many of our own.<\/p>\n
Take down just one wall of silence<\/b>. Sometimes we seem far more ready to build walls than to tear them down. A perceived slight, a whispered rumor and we throw up a barrier, leaving someone on the other side with no clue, just silence. The adversary would love nothing more than a Body of Christ walled off into little pieces. <\/p>\n
I had a close friend who suddenly found himself shunned in church and on the street. He didn\u2019t know why. A retiring person, he spent years trying to figure out what he\u2019d done to merit their coldness toward him. He stopped going to church. He wondered why nobody had followed Jesus\u2019 teaching and confronted him with what he\u2019d been doing wrong (Matthew 18:15-17). He sank into himself. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s lay the pieces of just one destroyed wall at the feet of the Babe in the manger. First, pray for a caring heart. Then take out one brick with a word, a smile, and a hug. Let that grow, until we are encouraging the other, speaking the truth in love to the other, building up the other \u2013 and the Body of Christ on earth (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Ephesians 4:15, 16). <\/p>\n
Just once, say, \u201cHello in there.\u201d <\/b>Walking our streets, often unnoticed, are people who live in the shadows. A widow with nothing left but memories; a teenager who lives on those streets; a young man struggling to keep his mental illness under control, to keep the demons at bay; a woman whose physical disability makes her the butt of cruel jokes.<\/p>\n
This Christmas, by loving them as we love ourselves, let\u2019s bring just one person out of the darkness and into the light, and introduce them to the newborn King. <\/p>\n
Give, and receive, the gift of forgiveness<\/b>. Not \u2018faux\u2019 forgiveness that still holds it over the other, still maintains the distance. As Fuller Theological Seminary professor David Augsburger puts it, \u201cWrongdoing is no justification for my not loving you as myself.\u201d Give the gift of true forgiveness, without limit, without reserve. <\/p>\n
Perhaps the tougher thing is to seek<\/i> forgiveness. But if we take the words of Jesus seriously, we would not approach him in worship knowing that our brother or sister has anything against us (Cf. Matthew 5:23, 24).<\/p>\n
Reconciled brothers and sisters standing at the foot of the manger will bring a smile to that small Child\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
Actually, the question is not what do you get for the Person who has everything; it\u2019s what do you give<\/i> to the Person who has given everything? We all know the answer to that. So this Christmas let the gifts flow! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The hall filled quickly, and with the guest of honor ensconced at the head table as usual, already surrounded by well wishers. Most, however, just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":93837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n