Do you remember singing the song, All I Want for Christmas, when you were younger? My sister and I used to change the words in order to drop hints to our parents about what we wanted for Christmas (sing “All I want for Christmas is a new stereo, a new stereo…” No, no, that was my sister. I sang, “All I want for Christmas is Farrah Fawcett, Farrah Fawcett…)
Think back for just a minute to what it was like when you were younger – the anticipation of that wonderful day…maybe you had that one special gift you really wanted but you weren’t sure you were going to get…so you had to wait and dream…maybe it looked something like this…
(Video clip shown)That was a clip from my favorite Christmas movie of all time, A Christmas Story…the story of Ralphie who is consumed in his anticipation of the one gift he desires above all else – an Official Red Ryder, Carbine-Action, Two-hundred Shot, Range Model Air Rifle. Ralphie is sure that this one gift has the potential to change his life – from an ordinary ten year-old boy who often feels at the mercy of his family, friends, and school bullies…into a savior who can defend his family from all the bad things in the world. And so, Ralphie waits for that special day that has the potential to change his world.
We can watch this movie and laugh at Ralphie’s innocent little boy dreams but lets be honest…we are not all that different than Ralphie. Even as adults we often anticipate gifts that we believe will change our lives and make them more perfect. Our prayers are full of such dreams – fix our economy God, find me a job God, give me a spouse who understands me better God, make it so I have more time to spend with my kids God, grant me a bigger house, fewer bills, less stress, a healthier body…give me this one gift and I won’t ask for anything else because things will be ok then…just one present from you is all I need.
But will one present really fix everything?
Israel was once conquered by the Babylonians and forced to leave their land and go into exile in Babylon. While in exile, the people grieved for their loss and their greatest desire was to return to their own land – to get back to Jerusalem. If God would just get them back home, everything would be ok again…their broken nation would be healed. But Israel was eventually surprised, when the gift they had most desired was granted and they returned to Jerusalem and found that life was not all fixed and healed like they thought it would be…they quickly realized that what they wanted most, was not really what they needed most. Hear what the prophet Isaiah had to say as Israel discovered this astounding truth…
Isaiah 64.1-9
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
While in exile, Israel wanted only one present from God – that was to go home again…but once they got home they realized that it was not a present from God that they really desired – instead it was God’s presence that should have been at the top of their wish list.You know, we can make all the wish lists we want, anticipate all the presents we desire but until we understand that our lives only have purpose and joy in the presence of God – we will always feel the world is not right.
Ralphie believed that the bb gun will help him gain control and take on the role of saving his family…but his mother has quite a different take on the matter.
(Video clip shown)She doesn’t say this to be cruel and shatter his dreams, she says it because she is his mother and she understands that he needs maturity and wisdom to appreciate such a present. She knows that Ralphie isn’t ready – he doesn’t understand what such gift would mean.
God could certainly give us immeasurable presents…things we want/desire to make life better…things we are sure will make us happy…but would they?
Let’s think for a moment about the origin of the one who embodies our way of thinking about Christmas presents - St. Nicholas. Born into a wealthy family in the 3rd century, Nicholas grew into a devout young man…when his parents died, leaving him a small fortune, he took seriously the biblical call to sell all you have and give it to the poor and he did just that.
Throughout his lifetime, Nicholas was known to have used his money and resources to provide for the needs of people, especially children. Notice I said, provide for the needs…not wants…nothing frivolous…just money and food so that they could survive. Over time, or understanding of St. Nicholas sure has changed…
Soon he became large, a sign of great wealth and prosperity…then he became jolly, no longer appearing sad and burdened by a world in which children die and go hungry…now St. Nick is more about video games and Barbie dolls than feeding the poor and saving the lost.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You can’t get to joy without first journeying through despair.” We don’t always understand the consequences of the things we ask God for. We dream big and we think it’s the perfect gift, yet God, our father, knows that we are not always mature enough or wise enough to appreciate the gifts we desire. Sometimes, God must simply shake his head and say, “Sorry, but you’ll shoot your eye out.”
We want a lot from God, we expect a lot from him, but what we really need is to mature enough to realize, like Isaiah, that we need a parent who knows us, who wants to do what is best for us. What we need is not presents from God but God’s presence in our lives.
And this is really what Advent is about – anticipating God’s presence among us...waiting on God. At times we may feel like Isaiah…we may get frustrated with the state of our lives and think that God has simply left the building…he’s not here anymore. The truth though is that God is never far from us. God is always present and even though there may be times when he is silent – it does not mean that he is not working.
Look with me for just a moment at the third verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem…
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
the dear Christ enters in.
In the silence of a dark night…when many felt God had abandoned them…he came into the world amidst the barn animals. While the world demanded of God a king to overthrow nations and a powerhouse to rule over others…a silent teen girl held the son of God and wondered in her heart what it all meant.
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given…the blessing of God’s heaven.
It is so easy in our world today to get caught up in the presents of Christmas, the things we want and the things we give…but let us take seriously the anticipation of Advent, which reminds us that it is the Presence of God that is our most treasured of all gifts.
All I want for Christmas is for Christ’s church to yearn for and share God’s presence with the world…it is the greatest gift we have received and the greatest gift we can offer to others.
Pray with me.
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