ADVENT IV
December 20, 2020
The “Must Haves” for “The Holidays”
Our Advent experiences and pre-Christmas activities and plans have been turned as sideways as everything else in our lives most of this year. Those of us who have traveled or looked forward to company in the past, are instead planning with loved ones the times we need to set aside for our Zoom or Facetime Christmas visits. We’re figuring out how to shop for gifts and stay distant from others, as we gaze at a computer screen, hoping that the color and/or overall appearance of an item is at least close to reality.
Last week, as I was enjoying a cup of coffee along with the morning paper and some morning TV, I heard one of the hosts say, “And coming up in our next segment — the ‘must haves’ for the holidays!” I tried not to have a “bah-humbug” reaction, but it seemed like the kind of programming or advertising that just pours salt in the wounds of a difficult, painful year. It sounded even more shallow than ever — and every year there are toys, gadgets, or other items that are absolutely, vitally crucial to give or receive as gifts.
However, that “must have” stayed with me, and as I considered the possibility of making this a devotional theme, I asked myself: What is the absolute “must have” for every one of us at Christmas or any other time of the year? The exact nature of our responses are likely to vary throughout various stages of our lives, but if we’re being thoughtful, the basic, foundational answers will have several things in common.
To be able to both give and receive love is essential to life itself. As children of our Father in heaven, we are showered with abundant, never-ending love. We can hardly comprehend the magnitude of this gift, but in accepting it, we are privileged to share it, in our family and personal relationships, throughout our communities, and as part of God’s people around the world. The well-known “love chapter” of I Corinthians 13 closes with these words: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”
We look forward to once again hearing the story of a young couple making a difficult journey, a baby born in a stable, rejoicing angels, excited shepherds, and worshipful wise men, and wonder at the ways in which God sent his love to all humanity in the person of his own Son.
Martin Luther described God as working through the unexpected, unlikely, and lowly, as he chose a young girl in an obscure village to be the mother of the Savior. By sending his own Son in this way, God comes down to meet us in a world filled with sin, suffering and death. He came in weakness, as a baby and then as a crucified man. He came as the personification of love, giving of himself without reservation, teaching, preaching, healing, listening, and sacrificing.
How blessed we are that the gift that we “must have” to give and to receive is with us, in us, and all around us: The love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Come to us, Lord Jesus!
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers