Gifts of the Season
It’s Christmas – what we’ve spent all of Advent preparing and waiting for – and as we look around, much of the secular world has stopped celebrating. Gifts were given, exchanged, and returned. The world sighs after all the bustle and celebration. But what some celebrate in one day is so much more.The Christmas season is actually 12 days, not just one.
We are reminded of God’s gifts during this season. First – the gift of praise for all that God has created. The psalmist summons all creation to praise God in Psalm 148. Cries of “Hallelujah!” add to the joy of the season. This call to praise orients us toward God and the gift of God’s love to the world, God’s son.
And it’s that son, Jesus, who awed explorers and wise ones in a faraway land to the point that they journeyed to see him. Realizing like the psalmist the greatness of the one they seek, they bring gifts to the child.
While we need to guard against an emphasis on material gifts and commercialism at Christmas, we are at a disadvantage if we do not celebrate the gift from God that came and lived among us. God’s gift to all creation of God’s son is an example of selfless and sacrificial giving. God gifts us with God’s greatness. And in return, we can live out that same selflessness and sacrifice in our own lives. These are not only gifts for the Christmas season, but the whole year.
Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Advent • Christmas • Epiphany 2013–2014 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2013, P. 10
