The Gift of Christmas
I watched a fairytale called “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The story is an old one that is played every year during the Christmas season. Grinch who lives in the mountain with his pet dog is upset with the whole idea of Christmas. He does not like the joy, the peace, and happiness that fills the atmosphere below the mountain. The Grinch does not like the unity of the community. He does not like the songs, the decorations, nor the expectation of Christmas. So, the Grinch decides to invade this peaceful and joyful community and steal Christmas. He steals all the lights, the stockings, the ornaments, the presents, the food, and all the things of Christmas hoping that the mood of the community would be replaced with sadness and melancholy.
Even though the Grinch had taken everything he thought would destroy the joy of Christmas, to his surprise Christmas came anyhow. The joy, peace, and happiness, and togetherness the Grinch tried to destroy was to no avail. Christmas came anyhow. The Grinch said, “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.” Then, he thought of something he had not thought before. “What if Christmas doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”
When I think about this fairy tale, the Grinch reminds me of Satan, the devil who invaded our habitation and tricked Adam and Eve. The devil could not stand human relationship with God and the peace, joy, and fulfillment it produced in humans. Like the Grinch, the devil could not wait to break up this joyous and peaceful relationship with God. So, the devil decided to trick us and steal the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and replace it with adultery, fornication, uncleanness, debauchery, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, strife, seditions, heresies, envy, murder, and drunkenness, which are actions of the flesh so that human relations would forever be torn and misery will have no end. Satan, the devil always works to be our accuser and divider. We must remember that he comes to kill, steal, and destroy. What he did to separate us from God and one another did not ultimately work because God decided to give us a gift that would repair, rekindle, and restore our lost relationship with God.
Through the faith of our forefathers and mothers, God sent us a gift to heal the land and give back to us what that old devilish Grinch had stolen from us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Christ is God’s gift to humanity. God so loved the world, the black world, the white world , the brown world, the red world, the Catholic, the Protestant, the Jews and the Gentile, the Baptist, the Methodist, the Pentecostal, the rich, the poor, the big shot, and the no shot. Christ is God’s gift to all of humanity. “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. But, since our greatest need was forgiveness, God Sent Us a Savior.” This is the gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ who came to reconcile us back to God.
Christ did not come to earth in a certain political, social, and economic wrapping and put under a tree. No, he was not put under a tree but nailed to a tree. The gift that was nailed on the tree is far more important than a gift under a tree. Jesus Christ is our perfect gift, and if the world would allow Christ to live in their hearts and minds as Lord, our world could really experience the gift of Christmas. Jesus Christ is the only one that can turn our mess into a message, our troubles into testimonies, our burdens into blessings, our obstacles into opportunities, our pain into poetry, our shame into songs, our scars into stars, and our dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.
Jesus Christ is our perfect gift. He is just what we need from the womb to the tomb. We can never give God what He has given us, but from our theology to our doxology let us:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise him, all creatures here below,
Praise him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
During this Christmas season, let us keep Christ in Christmas and demonstrate in our lives the true gift of Christmas. Remember Christ is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas to All!
CHURCH SERVICE
Worship Service: 11 AM – each Sunday
Sunday School: 9:30 AM – each Sunday
First Baptist Church
727 Scotland Street
Williamsburg, VA 23185
http://www.firstbaptistchurch1776.org/
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