Messiah Still

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, and yet it's also one of the busiest. It's easy to get caught up in the decorating, the events, the tasks to accomplish before the holiday, and yet ultimately Christmas is a time of stillness.

It's a time where we reflect on the moment the world changed. When the light was born in the darkness. When the prophesied Messiah entered the world. 

Christmas is a time of receiving. This Savior child was given to us. Given to the world for our good because of His goodness, not because of anything we did to earn it. And maybe it's that foundation of receiving and not only the many festivities that can make the holiday season so tiring. Because for many of us, an opportunity to receive ignites our striving.

Most people would tell you that they prefer a gift freely given over one they have to earn. In fact, many people criticize Christianity for not being a free gift, seeing the commandments of Scripture as conditions to its grace. And yet when we are faced with a free gift, so often we respond in our striving. We struggle to receive. 

We see this play out in Christian legalism, in Pharisaical faith, in all the religions marked by a to-do list. Nothing affects our hearts like a gift freely given, and yet I think a lot of us are much more comfortable accepting something that requires something of us. If we do a, b, and c, we'll get salvation. It feels easier to grasp than an infinite God who would lose His very life to save ours, and it allows us some measure of control in our faith instead of the complete dependence required to receive the gift. We have to acknowledge our own inabilities to accept our need for a Savior, and a lot of us would rather strive than receive under those conditions. 

I think of the tradition of gift giving at Christmas. In the commercialism of Christmas we can try to leave this behind as mere consumerism, but the tradition can actually point us back to the Savior who came to us, and the God who gave Him for us, breathing life into His beauty when we're oriented towards Him.

The problem is that a lot of us get caught up in striving when it comes to gift giving. We see our own inadequacies in our lack of financial resources or creativity in finding the perfect gift. We feel the weight of expectations and spaces where gifts feel much more like a requirement. And even when we delight to give, it's still so easy to get caught in the busyness of getting all the shopping done before Christmas. But giving, receiving, and anticipating are all key aspects of the Christmas season. 

We give because He first gave to us. We give out of the resources we have, out of the creativity we have, for the relationships we have, but ultimately our giving can be a reminder of the great gift given to us, the very Son of God. As we receive that unearnable gift, it overflows from us in generosity to others. There's a reason the joy of Christmas makes us more aware of the struggles in the world--the homeless, the poor, the hurting--and yet rather than despairing at the brokenness, we are moved to help, to spread goodwill and cheer, to show grace, to serve. The light is born in the darkness, and when we receive it, we want to spread it.

It can be easy to receive gifts with guilt--to try to cover our disappointment or to make up for the fact that we didn't get them anything--or selfishness--to focus on the materialism of it all and bolster ourselves up by the worth of our possessions or to see ourselves as deserving the gift. And yet there is no joy in receiving in these ways. Because we're not really receiving the gift when we hold those perspectives; our mind is elsewhere, and we don't feel the outpouring. But that's what receiving a gift is. An outpouring of love. A testimony of generosity. And in receiving gifts with humble gratitude, we can actually be more tuned to the joy of the season and the greatest gift in Christ. To the gracious love born in the Savior who pursued us into the world, who poured Himself out for us, who delights in our joy and intimacy, and who reconciles us to Himself. And with every package unwrapped, that is the story we can remember.

Christmas is a season of anticipation. So many anticipate the opening of gifts on Christmas morning, and yet even that anticipation cannot compare to our anticipation as we await the advent of Christ's birth. And the best part? While we have to wait until Christmas to have our curiosity quenched as to what sits under the tree, Jesus is knowable now. We await Him by seeking Him, by spending time with Him, by remembering Him, by celebrating Him. There is beauty in the waiting, in how it tunes our focus, in how its anticipation sweetens the fulfillment of the longing, and during Advent we await a Savior we know will be born. We await the Emmanuel, God with us, and we celebrate that He is already with us even as we wait. That is one of the joys of the Christmas season.

I've found myself doing a lot this Christmas season, and yet God has been so kind to me in removing the hurry and the exhaustion from my mind. Instead of one more thing to get done, He's given me space to slow down in the doing and to enjoy it. 

And in that stillness I've also been reminded of the truth that it's okay to rest. It's okay to be quiet even in the good things. To not do. To come to Him first, to receive, drinking in His fullness, and then to pour out from that place. It's all in receiving. In taking the time to know Him and enjoy Him and be filled by Him. It's an easy part to miss, but it's one I pray we can find this Christmas season as we look to the gift of Christ to our world.