Christmas is a celebration of the sacred – or at least at its core it is, even though the sacred can become buried beneath an avalanche of commercialism and all but forgotten if no one is vigilant to rescue it from beneath the mound of marketing and mayhem that surround this season. But the sacred is there for those who would seek it out – all the miracles that make up Christmas (which I wrote about in a previous post) from the virgin birth to a conquering King arriving as a helpless baby, are what we need to remember in order to truly understand this unfathomable miracle God has done on our behalf. Greater than the parting of the Red Sea or the raising of Lazarus from the dead – God leaving His infinite dwelling place of eternal glory, power, perfection, peace, beauty and majesty, in order to enter into our finite, temporal, broken, painful, chaotic world as a frail human being, is a miracle beyond belief. And yet that’s exactly what God did.

That’s the sacred miracle of Christmas that I never want to forget. Because when I forget what God has done, then doubt enters into those places in me that had been filled with faith. Remembering what God has done and remembering His Word – these two things fill up the spaces of my heart and mind with memories of God’s goodness and God’s faithfulness to me and with the truth of His living Word. It is only when I forget, that faith fades, leaving room for doubt, fear and deceit to enter in – able now to occupy the places left empty by faith’s absence. When I forget the truth, I will believe the lie!

This is why I must remember. This is why satan hopes I will forget. Because when I forget God’s goodness, God’s character, God’s faithfulness to me – doubt enters in and separates me from my Heavenly Father. Forgetfulness – that must have been what happened to the Israelites in the desert. God had just rescued them in dramatic fashion from Egypt, by parting the Red Sea in two so they could cross on dry ground! And then for good measure, God put the sea back together just in time to drown all the Egyptians who were pursuing them. But apparently the Israelites soon forgot this miracle of God, because not long afterwards they made a golden calf statue and began worshiping it. Certainly, if they were focused on remembering God’s mighty miracles on their behalf, they would not have done such a foolish thing?

This is what Christmas and Communion have in common – they are rituals of remembrance. They are celebrations of God’s goodness – celebrations of what God has done for us. We are to remember and to celebrate, so that we don’t forget. Because when we forget, we are prone to wander away from God just like the Israelites.

“The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Those are Jesus’s instructions to His disciples. Communion or The Lord’s Supper is a time for us to remember what Jesus did for us. When I take Communion, I remember all over again that Jesus died in my place, paid my price, forgave my sins, came out of the grave on the third day and is coming back again for me. I am filled with hope and joy when I call these truths to mind and reflect on them. But when I forget the message of Communion, which is how much God loves me, when I forget the high price my Heavenly Father paid to purchase my freedom and secure my eternal life with Him, then I find I forget my identity as His dearly loved child, I forget my worth – I forget my reason for hope and I sink into despair.

Communion – remembering what Jesus did on that cross, keeps me connected to my Creator and to the truth. That’s what remembering does – keeps me connected, so I don’t drift away or become separated from my Heavenly Father. Christmas, like Communion, is all about remembering what God did for us when He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth. Christmas is about remembering and celebrating the birth of Jesus. This celebration has been hijacked for centuries by cultures all over the world, adding their own traditions and events under the banner of Christmas – which at times threatens to extinguish the true miracle that we remember at Christmas, Christ’s birth.

Christ’s birth is a miracle of such magnitude, that it is by far the greatest singular event in human history. The Eternal Creator God entered into the temporal, the Infinite into the finite, Light entered into our darkness, the Divine came to dwell with the human, the Sacred Son of God entered into the profane, the Sinless One with the sinful, the Healer walked among the sick and healed all our infirmities, the Truth came to expose all lies, the Good Shepherd came to reclaim His flock from the evil one, Love came to triumph over hate, Life came to conquer death once for all – the One who is the way, the truth and the life came into our world to set the captives free! (that’s us – we are the captives)

Seems like we should be celebrating this event every day, not just once a year. For sure, we should be remembering every day just what great links our Heavenly Father went to, to rescue us from the death sentence under which we live since choosing our way over His in the garden. That’s the part of Christmas that I want to remember well – that Jesus came!

Prophesies were fulfilled, God’s promise kept, the promised Messiah arrived in God’s perfect timing. Remembering these truths is the reason I rejoice. It is the reason for my hope. Christmas Advent is a season of hope. Communion is a sacred call to remember what Jesus did in defeating death and therefore a call to hope, in Christ’s return and in His promise of everlasting life.

“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5)

That’s what happened when Christmas happened and our world has not been the same since.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Christmas and Communion – the King has come – the King is coming!

The King came that first Christmas as a baby in a manger. People were not prepared to receive Him. They hadn’t made room for Him. They didn’t recognize Jesus for who He truly was, the promised Messiah, so they didn’t open their homes and their hearts to Him. There was no room in the inn. There was no room in their lives for their long awaited Messiah.

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -” (John 1:11-12)

Let it not be so with this Christmas nor with Communion – the King has come! The King is coming!

I will not forget. I will remember, rejoice and celebrate with every Christmas, with every Communion.

The King has come! The King is coming! make a way, prepare Him room, throw open the door, lift up the gates, let Him enter in and make His home with you today and forevermore!

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

sincerely, Grace Day

Most days are ordinary days at first glance – until I take a closer look. However, I have to slow down enough to encounter the extraordinary that surrounds me amid the mundane of the day or I will miss it, as I nearly did today -twice! Both encounters were unsought and unexpected. Both left my heart ripped open. Empathy can be a dangerous thing, it leaves us vulnerable to other people’s pain – as if we don’t already carry around enough pain of our own on a daily basis. Today I am reminded once again of the truth of these words –

“Be kind – for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle that you know nothing about.”

Certainly good advice, that I would do well to remember as I go about my day. Today I crossed paths with two courageous women, each waging war valiantly against her current life circumstances. But I would never have known nor suspected had I not been privileged to find myself in conversation with each one during my routine morning visit to the gym. The first woman joined our exercise class midway through. I noticed her because she took a spot in the back corner, which is where I position myself during the class, my reasoning being that if I mess up, (which I do often – call it a misstep, call it a mistake – the back corner is the safest place to be) no one will notice because no one will see me.

So I welcomed this new woman to the class and we had some casual conversation during the class. But nothing prepared me for what she revealed as after class we continued to converse. Turns out she is undergoing chemo for stage four cancer. You would not guess this based on her outward appearance. She looked perfectly healthy and her countenance, her smile, her eyes, her demeanor were vibrant, communicating her zest for life. I would not have guessed the battle she is valiantly fighting every day is against stage four cancer. She told me she comes to the gym every day, to keep her physical, mental and emotional well being strong. She is fighting back. She is not giving up. She has two teenage children and a supportive family. What an inspiration she must be to each and every one of them. She was an inspiration to me today! If she can continue to fight her battle so courageously, who am I to complain about mine or to consider ceasing to fight the good fight?

I was deep in thought from this conversation as I was leaving the gym when my progress was blocked by a woman with a walker, who stopped literally at the entrance where the automatic doors opened and closed. She was trying unsuccessfully, I realized, to pull car keys from her coat pocket before going out into the cold. (I agree with this move – I already had my keys in hand as I didn’t want to be out in this cold any longer than necessary) I didn’t want to appear rude by going around her, but was contemplating offering to help her get her keys in hand, when she procured said keys and began to slowly move forward. Normally I would walk right on by, being in my usual hurry and all, but for some reason I fell into step alongside of her and struck up a conversation.

Because I did that, I had the privilege of meeting another courageous woman waging war on her circumstances, not content to let them have the final say. She would have the last word and I hope she does. She was needing to have weight loss surgery in order to be eligible for some needed knee surgery. Both those things would take time and require rehabilitation, but if successful, she would no longer need a walker. She told me her goal was to be able to kick a ball around with her two-year-old grandson. A worthy goal – hope – a reason to fight the battle. I was blown away by her courage and her vision – not to accept her situation but to fight her battle to change what was within her power to change. She has a vision of how things can be if she is willing to show up every day and fight her battle.

It takes courage to keep going in the face of hard, difficult, seemingly insurmountable circumstances. It takes great courage to get out of bed and to show up every day. It takes courage not to surrender to fear, pain or despair. I am totally inspired by both these women and their stories. What an unexpected gift I was given today!

“Oh Lord, forgive me when I whine. I have two legs, the world is mine! . . . Oh Lord, forgive me when I whine. I have two eyes, the world is mine!” O Lord, forgive me when I whine, I have . . . the world is mine! I could fill that blank in with so many things that are the good gifts my Heavenly Father has given me – none of which I have earned or deserve. They are simply the result of God’s mercy and goodness.

“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

I go to the gym to get strong. Today I think my conversations with these two courageous women strengthened me more than my physical workout did. I am buoyed in spirit while being reminded once again, always to be kind because I have no idea the hard battles those around me are facing and fighting every day. Today I got a look behind the curtain at two such battles and the courageous women who are fighting them. May I always be ready to lend a hand, an ear, words of encouragement and of hope, a prayer, a plea – may I take the time to stand in the gap.

Thank You, Lord, for the privilege of sharing the burdens of others. You are the Author of empathy. You took on flesh and came to make Your home with us for awhile – just so You could walk a mile in our shoes. Yes, You truly are the Author of empathy!

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15)

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

sincerely, Grace Day

As I reflect on Christmas just two days after said celebration, I realize something – all of Christmas is a miracle from start to finish – the greatest miracle, the greatest story ever told, the best gift ever given – Jesus. It’s all miraculous – there is no other explanation. That God would leave His home in heaven and come here to walk a few miles in our human, earthly shoes – nothing short of a miracle!

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15)

That God loved us even though we had turned our backs on Him and were still sinners – loved us enough to send His one and only Son to us – that’s a miracle.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

A Christmas miracle – eternity entered into our temporal existence tearing time in two forever – a miracle. Thirty-three years later, a curtain would be torn in two from top to bottom – we would no longer be separated from our Creator God – a miracle!

Miracle upon miracle – a virgin birth, Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, God’s promises kept (to send us a much needed Savior), angels talking to shepherds, wise men being led by a star, Simeon and Anna rejoicing at the sight of the baby Jesus, knowing they were witnessing God’s faithfulness to mankind revealed, knowing death was already defeated, even though it would be thirty-three years later and they would not live to see the earthly resurrection of their long awaited Messiah – they didn’t need to – they believed God and now they had seen His promised Savior with their own eyes. This miracle of seeing the Christ Child filled them with joy and with hope. God’s True Light had entered into our dark world.

“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. . . . In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:9, 4-5)

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ ” (John 8:12)

Today our culture’s commercialization of Christmas threatens to cover up the true miracle that is Christmas – but it can’t. The True Light has come into our world and the darkness cannot hide it. Rather the light shines in our darkness and overcomes it! This is the hope of Christmas! God’s ways are certainly not our ways. The miracle of Christ’s birth in the way it took place, fulfilling every prophecy, was perfectly planned from before time began by our Heavenly Father. In the Nativity are the truth, the power and the miracle of Christmas, the reason we remember, celebrate and rejoice. Christ has come bringing light into a dark world, hope to a world in desperate despair, healing for all our brokenness, forgiveness and mercy to cover all our sins and His love to deliver us from certain death into everlasting life with Him. If that’s not a miracle worth celebrating, I don’t know what is!

Jesus – the Christ Child, the Messiah, the promised Savior, the Sacrificial Lamb, the conquering King – God’s miraculous, undeserved gift to each and every one of us. Jesus – God’s gift to you. God’s gift to me. I want to prepare Him room. I want to receive Him. I want to remember what God has given me – a Savior, an Advocate, a Redeemer – a reason to rejoice and to celebrate.

The King has come! The King is coming! – the miracle of Christmas – a miracle worth remembering, a miracle worth celebrating!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.’ ” (Luke 2:10-14)

sincerely, Grace Day

The King is coming! Make haste! Make way!

the King is coming! Today’s the day!

The King is coming! make room! make space! clear the way! prepare a place!

Let every heart prepare Him room. Don’t delay – He’ll be here soon!

God’s eternal promise in His perfect timing kept, while the Holy Babe in a manger slept.

All the prophesies of old fulfilled – the hearts of all the angels thrilled

to see the miracle come to pass – Immanuel, God with man at last.

Good news, great joy, peace on earth to men – Eternity has entered in!

Into our darkness the Light has come – with eternal life for anyone

who will open the door and let Him in – the King has come to rescue us from sin!

The King is coming from heaven on high – you will hear His voice in a baby’s cry

Wise men sought Him, shepherds bowed down – to the King who would one day wear the crown

of thorns upon His head, this tiny baby in the manger bed.

Shout Hosana, rejoice and sing! Hallelujahs to the King!

The King is coming! He will be here soon! Prepare the way – make haste, make room!

Lift up the gates, throw the doors open wide – let the King come in, forever to abide

filling your empty spaces with His hope, joy and love – until you rest with Him above.

The King is coming! Make Him room, don’t delay. Let Him in! Let Him in! The King has come to stay!

“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

sincerely, Grace Day

I do not go to birthday parties empty handed. I always bring a gift for the guest of honor, for the one whose birthday is being celebrated. And every time I wonder, is my gift something the person being celebrated will like? Will they find my gift acceptable? Will I be embarrassed or ashamed when they open my gift? It is a sad feeling to believe that you have nothing to give or to think that what you do have to give has no value and so will not be accepted nor welcomed by anyone.

Maybe that’s why I remember so clearly from childhood the Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy.” Being a child myself at the time, I completely identified with the little boy and his dilemma. The words to the song tell the story of this little boy invited to see the baby Jesus –

“Come they told me . . . A newborn King to see . . . Our finest gifts we bring . . . To lay before the King . . . So to honor Him, when we come.”

We know what fine gifts the three Wise Men brought to the baby Jesus. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh – gifts considered fit for a King. But for the little drummer boy, there is a problem. He doesn’t have anything so splendid as those lavish gifts that he could present to the baby Jesus.

“Little Baby . . . I am a poor boy too . . . I have no gift to bring . . . that’s fit to give the King . . . “

This is the same problem the hero in my favorite Christmas book, “The Littlest Angel” has. A small boy, who has recently become the littlest angel in heaven, has no gift to give the Christ Child on His birthday. I feel the agony and the angst of both the little drummer boy and the littlest angel as if it were my own. And if truth be told, it is my own. I still feel the agony today of coming empty handed into the presence of my Redeemer and King – the King – the King of the universe – the King of all eternity.

Truly, the cattle on a thousand hills are His. What can I possibly offer to the Creator of all things? Well, I can learn something from both the little drummer boy and the littlest angel. The little drummer boy gave to the Christ child the one thing that was his alone to offer up –

“Shall I play for You? . . . On my drum? Mary nodded, . . . The ox and lamb kept time, . . . I played my drum for Him, . . . I played my best for Him, . . . Then He smiled at me, . . . Me and my drum”

The little drummer boy offered up to God his God given talent. He gave what he had freely received from God, back to God, using his talent to entertain the sacred, holy child. As the song tells us, he gave his best and baby Jesus smiled – his gift was accepted. His gift was received with the smile of the Christ Child.

It was the same for the littlest angel. He gave what was most precious to him to the Christ Child on His birthday. This was a small wooden box containing his earthly treasures – a golden-winged butterfly, a sky blue bird’s egg, two white stones and the collar of his old dog. This was all the littlest angel had, all that connected him to his memories of earth. He felt his gift to be shabby and valueless in comparison to the other much grander gifts from the other angels. But the littlest angel’s gift was not only accepted but exalted by God, who knew the angel had given what he treasured most in all the universe.

So what can I bring to the Christ Child? My hands are empty. What have I of value to give to the King of Kings? What would please Him? I find an answer in Hosea 6:6 –

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”

The prophet Micah struggled with this same question, wondering what he could possibly give to God that would be acceptable and well received. Here’s what he said –

“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? . . . Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:6-8)

King David also asked this question, not wanting to come to God empty handed, but also not wanting to give a gift to God that He would not accept. I read David’s words in Psalm 51:16-17 –

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

Paul said this in Romans 12:1-

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”

It would seem that God does not want a part of my possessions nor a part of me, but rather He wants me, all of me. He wants my heart – all of it. Nothing half-hearted will He accept, only my wholehearted surrender and devotion. When questioned by one of the teachers of the law, Jesus said this –

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

“All” seems to be the operative word in that statement of Jesus. I’ve been worrying about showing up empty handed, when all along Jesus just wants me to show up at all, because He wants me, not what I can give Him. He doesn’t need anything, the world and everything in it are already His. The gift I can give God is my heart, all of it. I can clean out space and prepare Him room, just like the Christmas carol says, room to receive God’s gift of His Son, Jesus.

Turns out, the gift I can give God, is to accept His gift. I can make room and I can receive Jesus into my heart, home and life. God’s gift has been given. Will I receive Him? I may have come empty handed – but I will not remain that way. God’s gift of Jesus will fill me to overflowing with love, peace, joy, hope and life everlasting. I just have to open the door.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” (Psalm 24:7)

sincerely, Grace Day

So I was thinking – if I weren’t from planet earth but I ended up here during the time of Advent, what would I think people were celebrating? Knowing that advent is “the arrival of a notable person, thing or event”, for whom or for what would I think people were preparing? Who are they preparing to receive? What notable event are they celebrating? These would be the questions that I, being from an alien civilization, would be asking myself. I would want to make sense of all the preparations taking place around me. After all, inquiring minds want to know what all the fuss is about.

I start my investigation by talking with children. I find them more forthright and they seem much more excited about Advent or Christmas or whatever this is, than the adults do. Actually, the adults seem a bit stressed if not downright distressed during this season and they are much too busy to take the time to answer my questions. But children will tell it like it is. And so they do.

I learn they are preparing for the arrival of a man in a red suite who travels in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. The sleigh is filled with toys and gifts for children all over the world who have been “good.” In preparation for this event the children tell me they sometimes write letters containing their requests to the red-suited man, named Santa Claus. Parents tell the children the chimney has been cleaned in anticipation of Santa’s arrival because that’s how Santa enters and exits each house, through the chimney. (this seems a bit peculiar to me but being from another planet, who am I to question Santa’s ways?)

Children are glad when their parents put Christmas lights on the roof and chimney of their house. This helps Santa find the house easily and land the sleigh on the clearly illuminated roof. The children tell me they also make cookies for Santa which they leave beside the fireplace along with a sandwich, milk and carrots for the reindeer. This is an important part of being prepared to receive Santa – figuring out what kind of cookies he likes and what kind of a sandwich they should leave for him. Another important part of being prepared for Santa’s arrival is putting up a Christmas tree and hanging up stockings for Santa to fill with gifts. Also, the children tell me they clean the house and make room, especially around the tree, for all the gifts they are expecting to get from this Santa Claus person.

I ask the children more about this red-suited Santa. How well do they really know him? Turns out, he comes once a year and he leaves the presents and fills the stockings and eats the food while they are sleeping, so they don’t really hang out with him. There are some books they read about him like “The Night Before Christmas”, but they don’t really have a relationship with this Santa guy, they just like him because he gives them gifts once a year.

At this point I began to wonder why this annual celebration is called Christmas. Seems to me it would more aptly be called Santamas. After all, everything seems to me to be done in preparation for Santa Claus’s annual arrival on the rooftops. He must be the notable person that everyone is preparing to receive. (except no one ever sees him, he’s in and out while everyone sleeps, and he says nothing except maybe the occasional “Ho! Ho! Ho!”) Santa’s midnight ride from rooftop to rooftop around the world must be the notable event that Advent celebrates. So I asked the children why the name Christmas? In response, they told me the most incredible story I have ever heard.

They told me Christmas is the celebration of a baby’s birthday. Now I was thinking, so many babies are born every day – why is the whole world remembering and celebrating one particular baby’s birth? Then I find out this baby was born two thousand twenty-two years ago and we are still celebrating His birthday, Christmas, to this day. Now I am really curious. There have been lots of famous people born over the years. We still know some of their names, but we don’t hold a big celebration of their birth every year with people taking the day off work and schools closed and all. Why this baby? Why Christmas?

Well it seems this baby, whose name is Jesus, is God’s only Son, the promised Messiah, the Christ child. Christmas, which literally means “Christ’s mass”, is the celebrating of the birth of this Christ child. Why remember? Why celebrate? Because the birth of Jesus is a miracle and the greatest gift God ever gave to mankind. The miracle is God coming to earth to live with human beings for a while. The miracle is why He came – to redeem those He had created for His own, to pay their price with His blood, to forgive their sins and to give them eternal life with Him.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

“You (Jesus) are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9)

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . . . But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6,8)

As I observed firsthand the broken mess mankind has made of the world God gave them, it occurs to me that no one deserves any of these miraculous gifts that are God’s alone to give. But that’s the miracle of Christmas which continues to this day. God is still offering to me and to you, dear readers, the gift of His Son Jesus along with forgiveness, redemption, restoration and eternal life. This miracle of God sending us a Savior as promised, who is Jesus the Christ child, is really something to remember and to celebrate every day, not just once a year at Christmas.

So Jesus Christ is the notable person and His birth is the notable event that Advent and Christmas commemorate and celebrate every year. How did I miss this? The purpose of Advent is not to celebrate Santa’s arrival but to celebrate Jesus’s arrival here on earth. The miracle of Jesus coming to earth is far bigger than the surprise of toys under a tree on Christmas morning. Santa’s toys are temporal, God’s gift of Jesus is eternal!

As the children continued with the story of Jesus’s birth, which included shepherds, wise men, angels and a special star over the stable where baby Jesus lay in a manger, I began to understand why I was seeing images of a baby in a manger next to a man and a woman, with a donkey and sheep and shepherds and such, mixed in with snowmen and Santas and trees and reindeer on front lawns, in malls and in other places where Christmas decorations are displayed. It is actually the birth of this Jesus that Christmas calls us to remember and to celebrate.

All around me I can see that people are preparing for Santa’s arrival. I am wondering if they are also preparing for Jesus’s arrival? Jesus is coming again, but He doesn’t come every year like Santa. Jesus’s first Advent was missed by many. His second Advent, no one will miss.

“And the gory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:5)

People are busy preparing to receive Santa into their homes. (even though they will have no interaction with him) But what about Jesus? The Christmas carol “Joy to the World” says “let every heart prepare Him room, let earth receive her King!” Jesus Himself says,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Sharing a meal – that’s personal. God’s gift of Jesus is a very personal gift to me and to you and to everyone who will open the door and let Him in so that He can take up residence in the place that they have prepared for Him. Make a way! Make room! For the King is coming!

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

The King is coming! let every heart prepare Him room – let every home throw open the door and receive Him!

sincerely, Grace Day

The street is a dark one, no streetlights, no sidewalks, small houses on what would be considered a side street – not a main road nor a busy one. As I drive down this somewhat lengthy stretch of street which ends in a four way stop intersection, I have no expectation other than that this route will take me to my destination. For me, it is not about the journey on this dark December night, it is about getting to my destination quickly. Well, it was until I came upon the unexpected. Out of the darkness appeared a house covered in Christmas lights, and I do mean covered. Also brightly lit were the front yard, side yards, back yard and the fence around them. The lighted displays in the front yard were more than my eyes could take in while driving. This house was truly an oasis of light in a desert of darkness.

My first thought as I experienced this vision of multi-colored lights everywhere, was not a thought at all, but a feeling, a feeling of unexpected joy because I had no expectation of coming into the presence of such a large light display on this dark street. My second and subsequent thoughts were, “how much will the electric bill be?”, followed by “how long did it take them to put all this together?” and “how much work does it take to keep all the lights lit and working?” It gets dark here around five pm and not light again until about eight in the morning, so these lights are on for a long time. And they do this the entire month I assume. The surprise of discovering these dazzling lights in the middle of the darkness made my heart glad (I didn’t even know it was sad until I saw the lights and felt my spirits lift) – these Christmas lights totally transformed this ordinary house and yard into something magical and extraordinary.

And they did something else, too. They lit up the street and the neighborhood, as well. Whoever lives in that house, they are bringing light into the neighborhood at Christmas time. This reminds me of Jesus’s admonition to us –

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Light is not meant to be hidden away, but to be shared with others to benefit them. Jesus is the light of this world. I want to reflect His light in order to share it with other people. It’s like the song says, “It is better to light just one little candle, than to stumble in the dark!” That’s what the people in this house of the many Christmas lights are doing – those around them are in darkness so they lit a candle, so to speak. However, in this case the candle is more like ten thousand Christmas light bulbs! They have gone all in for Advent. They are bringing light into the darkness. They are preparing the way for the celebration of the Christ Child’s birth. They are lighting the way for others to follow as we each prepare by making room and letting God in to light up the dark places in our lives.

Jesus’s birth was described in this way by the prophet Isaiah –

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death (or land of darkness) a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest,” (Isaiah 9:2-3)

Jesus’s birth is the reason we remember and rejoice – rejoice that He came, rejoice that our Creator God loves us so much that He sent His Son, rejoice that God kept His promise to His people even after centuries of silence, rejoice that God always remembers us and desires that we would remember His great gift to us, Jesus, and that we would receive Jesus with rejoicing and great joy. (unlike the people of Jesus’s day)

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)

I don’t want to make that same mistake – I want to be all in at Advent, like the house of the many Christmas lights, in preparing to remember, to receive and to celebrate all over again God’s gift to me of Jesus and all the other good gifts God’s presence brings. Part of my getting ready is preparing the way for Jesus to enter into the lives of others. This means I will need to take Jesus’s light to some pretty dark places. There are neighborhoods where many or most of the homes are lit with Christmas lights. They already have light. Like this special house of the many Christmas lights, I want to be light in the dark, out of the way, less traveled places that need light to enter in and make its home there.

Eventually, the light will overcome the darkness. You and I just have to let the light in, not to keep it for ourselves, not to hide it under a bowl, but so that “others will see the light and praise our Father who is in heaven.” Advent is the time to let the light come in and to let that same light shine out into the darkness so that it can lead many to the Christ Child whose birth Christmas celebrates. Like the star above the stable, God’s light is here to lead us to His Son and to eternal life. We just have to make room and let the light in!

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

who brings the light? who is the light? none other than the King of Glory Himself, the Lord Almighty! Advent is the time to prepare Him room and to let Him in – the Lord comes – “let earth receive her King!”

sincerely, Grace Day

I sat in the back, second to the last pew actually on the third Sunday of this Advent season. Behind the pastor was a large, lighted Christmas tree with a star on top. The tree was positioned center stage which meant it was directly below the large cross that hangs there year round. So the image in front of me was the tree topped with a star, with the cross directly behind and partially above the star – almost as if the cross were the tree topper. How appropriate, I thought. After all, it was the star that led the wise men to Jesus but it was the cross for which Jesus came. Christmas is a celebration of the sacred – or at least it is meant to be. Culture has added much to what started as remembering the birth of God’s promised Messiah.

So much has been added over the centuries in fact, that the sacred has become buried under an avalanche of the mundane, the profane, the ordinary, the unrelated, the glitzy, the man made, the marketing, the hype and the hoopla – all these obscure our view of the sacred. Advent calls us to search for, to uncover, to discover and to rediscover all that is sacred in the celebration of Christmas. This is my challenge every Advent season, (which we call the Christmas season or if we are really politically correct, we call this the Holiday Season)

I witnessed this renaming of the celebration of Christ’s birth just last week in a public school classroom. A bulletin board was being put up with “Merry Christmas” but, you guessed it, the teacher was asked to put up “Happy Holidays” instead. Now there are other holidays occurring at this time of the year such as Kwanza and Hanukkah, which are celebrations in their own right of other things. Each holiday comes with its own unique trappings, traditions and practices that add to the avalanche under which lies the sacred of the celebration of the Christ Child’s birth.

Seeing the sacred during this Christmas season takes some extra effort in our culture. Our culture focuses on many other things, sometimes to the exclusion of the actual Christmas story, which is the event of Jesus’s birth. One way we portray what we are celebrating is by decorating with Nativity scenes, whether on our front lawns, inside our homes, in our churches or in our public spaces which are decorated for Christmas. (I should mention in church yesterday, on the stage next to the Christmas tree, was a large Nativity scene) Typically consisting of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in a manger, a stable, a donkey, some shepherds, some sheep and three wise men – Nativity scenes are the symbol of the sacred which this season celebrates. When I see a Nativity, I am reminded, God Himself came to earth to live among us. Immanuel – God with us. Jesus’s birth – the sacred miracle buried beneath an avalanche of marketing and mayhem that we have come to consider as synonymous with Christmas.

Today I am searching for the sacred even as I am surrounded by the profane. I want to recognize God’s miracle amid the mundane – I want the sacred miracle that is Christmas to shine through all the cookies, candy, carols, gifts, glitz and glamor that have come to adorn Christmas – an event so spectacular that it needs no man made additions – it is perfect just as it is. I think we have forgotten just how perfect and spectacular God’s gift of His Son to us truly is. This month there are Christmas lights and displays everywhere I go in celebration of the season. Santa, snowmen and reindeer sometimes share the “limelight” or more accurately the Christmas lights with the Nativity – but more often than not they are there alone to represent the Christmas season. No wonder I am having trouble finding the sacred things of Advent.

But they are there. The sacred is in the words of the Christmas carols such as “Joy to the World”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Away in a Manger”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “The First Noel”, “O Holy Night” and many more songs that beautifully tell the story of Jesus’s birth on the night when God entered into our world. The Holy Child, the sacred One, entering in and deigning to dwell with us for a while. Of course we have added additional songs which we label as Christmas songs such as “Jingle Bells”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “White Christmas”, “Silver Bells” and more. These are fun and festive seasonal songs, but they are also part of the “noise” drowning out the true meaning of our celebration.

It’s the same with all the gift giving that has become synonymous with Christmas. God gave the first gift of Christmas, Jesus. Then the Wise men brought gifts to Jesus of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But somehow that simple sacred act of giving has been hijacked into the retail industry and Santa Claus combining to bury beneath an avalanche of Christmas gifts each year the sacred, the miraculous gift of Jesus Himself, given to us on that first Christmas. It’s easy to overlook the original gift when it’s buried beneath a pile of presents under the Christmas tree. Uncovering and rediscovering the sacred during Advent is a challenge – but a challenge well worth the effort.

Today my eyes are searching for the sacred in this season of celebration. It is there to be found if I will look for it. The star on top of a Christmas tree points to the original star above the stable, which guided the Wise men on their journey to Jesus. Angels are still part of Christmas decor today because angels were present on that first Christmas night. It was angels who told the shepherds about Jesus’s birth and where to find Him. Even the candy cane has a meaning beyond just being a Christmas candy. It was designed as a shepherd’s crook or a “J” for Jesus, with the colors of white and red symbolizing purity or holiness and Jesus’s blood shed for our sins, respectively.

Christmas lights and lighted candles remind me that Jesus came into this dark world to bring us light. We read in John, chapter one, this – “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ ” (John 8:12)

Something else Jesus came to give you and me is everlasting life with Him. The evergreen trees and wreaths of Christmas remind me of this sacred truth, that in Jesus is eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

The sacred signs of Christmas are all around me, I just need to look for them and to focus on what or actually who they point me to, and that is Jesus. When my children were young, my mom always had a birthday cake with a Nativity scene on it on Christmas Day. We all gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus! What better way to celebrate a birthday than with cake? This simple act celebrates the true meaning of Christmas – that unto us a Child is born!

“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The sacred, miraculous message of Christmas is not lost. However, it does too often become buried beneath layers of man made traditions that have been added on to the celebration of Christmas over the years. But that’s what Advent is all about – clearing away the clutter of the mundane and the profane, making room to receive the sacred – the sacred gift of Jesus, our Savior, Redeemer and coming King. Advent is about seeking and celebrating the sacred. The sacred gift of the Christ Child and all He came to give to you and to me are well worth celebrating. I don’t know about you, but I want to prepare Him room, no matter what I have to throw out to make space for His gifts of forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, comfort, peace, joy, hope, love and life. These are the priceless gifts the Christ child came to give to each and every one who would receive Him and the gifts He offers to each one of us.

This Christmas I will celebrate the sacred miracle –

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

At Christmas, I celebrate the sacred Holy Child entering into our world to walk with us and to bear our burdens, our sorrows and our sins. Heaven has come to earth. The sacred has entered into the everyday and I can behold it if I have eyes to see the sacred surrounding me. Into a dark world God sent Jesus to be the light of the world. I don’t want to make the mistake the people made at the time of Jesus’s first Advent, when He came as a baby in a manger.

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)

No, Advent says, make room, make haste, make a way, prepare a place – the King is coming!

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

sincerely, Grace Day

Ok, they are not really ghosts, they are memories. But Charles Dicken’s tale, A Christmas Carol, is on my mind during this season and so “ghosts” is my nod to that classic Christmas story. Ironic – I’ve been writing about how Christmas is all about remembering even as I am flooded with memories of my own from Christmases past. These are particularly precious memories because I can’t go “home” anymore for Christmas as my parents no longer live on this earth. So I treasure these “ghosts of Advents past” – they bring me comfort when they come to mind.

My mom definitely pulled off the total transformation thing well. Our tiny house was transformed during the month of December from the mundane of the everyday to the marvelous of all things Christmas. The live Christmas tree reached to the ceiling and filled up the living room with its size and its scent. The whole house smelled of fresh pine mingled with the scent of the silver spray that Mom used on all the greenery before she decorated the mantle with the pine branches, making some of them into a huge wreath which hung above the mantle. Eventually the scent of baking cookies was added to the outdoorsy pine smell, signaling Christmas was getting closer.

One of my favorite Christmas memories is that of glass wax, stencils and the glass panes of the two kitchen doors. My sisters and I were allowed to decorate the kitchen door windows by taping the stencils to the windows and then applying the glass wax with sponges. The “Merry Christmas” stencil went in the top pane of each door and the rest was up to us, whether a wreath, a tree, candy canes or my favorite, the Nativity scene. It was also the hardest to do because it had more figures and they were smaller than the larger wreath or tree. Being the oldest, the Nativity usually fell to me to do. This is one of those memories that cannot be relived because they don’t make glass wax anymore. Don’t know why but no one ever asked my opinion before deciding that there was no longer a need for glass wax.

Fortunately, Christmas is more than glass wax stencils and a decorated tree. As a very small child it was exciting to find presents under the tree on Christmas morning. However, I soon figured out that it wasn’t Santa but my parents who ate the cookies we had left by the fireplace and my parents who provided the presents. Christmas did not lose its luster when I acquired this new knowledge though. Much activity and man made tradition have been added to the celebration of Christmas over the years. But the miracle of Christmas remains unchanged and has remained unchanged for me personally as well. As Santa and elves and reindeer and trees and toys and cookies have receded into the background, growing less important with the passage of time – so the memory of the birth of God’s Son, the Savior of the world, has only grown brighter, more important as my child sized view of the world gave way to understanding the enormity, the miracle of the birth of the Christ child – God with us – Immanuel.

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

God hadn’t hung out with humans since Adam and Eve in the Garden before sin entered in and separated us from our Holy Creator God. No remedy had been found for our sin. No rules could redeem us. We couldn’t keep the ten commandments if our very lives depended upon it – which they did. But as it turns out – “There is no one righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10) We couldn’t fix our sin problem ourselves. We were estranged from our Creator and without hope – BUT GOD! God had a plan and He made us a promise through His prophets. This was actually foreshadowed in Genesis 22:7-8, as Abraham headed up the mountain with his son, Isaac, whom he was preparing to sacrifice as God had instructed him to do. Isaac asked his dad a really important question and received this equally important answer from Abraham –

” ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ ”

And God did provide the needed sacrificial offering for sins that day on the mountain. “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.” (Genesis 22:13) Centuries later, God again would Himself provide the sacrificial lamb for me and for you and for all mankind – His only Son, Jesus Christ.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”(1 Peter 1:18-20)

That is the unfathomable miracle we celebrate at Christmas – God’s provision of the perfect, permanent, all sufficient sacrifice for all of our sins in the person of Jesus Christ. The fact that our eternal Creator entered into our physical, temporal world as a baby and walked several miles in our human shoes before going to the cross as our perfect atonement, makes that moment in human history when Jesus was born all the more miraculous, all the more worthy of our annual remembrance and celebration. I never want to forget to what great links my Heavenly Father went to redeem my life. When I forget, doubt enters in and hope exits. When I forget, the magnitude of His great sacrifice, I forget to be grateful for all God’s good gifts beginning with His gift of His only Son.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we – yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15)

“Who, (Jesus) being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8)

That’s what I remember and celebrate at Christmas – God provided the sacrifice by coming Himself in the flesh to walk in my human shoes before dying in my place and rising again, defeating death and offering me eternal life with Him. The gift of Christmas has been given. The question is – will I receive it? Will I receive what God is offering? Jesus says,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:7-10)

Advent – open the door, lift up the gates, “let every heart prepare Him room” – the King has come! the King is coming!

sincerely, Grace Day

so many gifts under the tree, I wonder how many are there for me?

I open them quickly, one by one –

then I feel kinda sad when I’m all done.

Is that all there is? Is there nothing more?

I guess what I want can’t be found in a store.

It can’t be bought and it can’t be sold –

I don’t even know its name – if truth be told.

But there must be some gift that could fill my empty space,

something or someone – I don’t know the name or face.

the face of forgiveness, the face of love,

the face of God come down from above.

God’s gift to me lay in a manger lowly,

the commonplace now transformed by the Presence of the Holy.

God’s gift to me so unexpected,

this gift of Christmas so often rejected.

The package is a manger, holding a baby small,

those who accept the present, find the greatest gift of all.

The gifts God gives of hope and joy

are better to me than any new toy.

The manger was full of peace and of light,

full of God’s plan to make all things right.

I was looking for my Christmas gift under the Christmas tree,

but I found it right where God had said, it was in the Nativity!

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

God’s gift to the world – the baby in the manger, Christ on the cross, the Risen Savior sitting at God’s right hand, making intercession for you and for me even now –

sincerely, Grace Day