THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS
Pastor Gary Halverson
First Eidsvold
Lutheran Parish
Are you ready for Christmas? When most people ask me that question they
are asking if I have bought and wrapped all the gifts I am giving at
Christmas. Some people prepare for the
celebration of Christmas long before December arrives. Late on Thanksgiving Day as we prepared to
leave my sister’s house my second sister said, “Wait, Gary ,
I have something for you to take home.”
Then she placed in my car a box with five Christmas gifts perfectly
wrapped with individualized ornaments attached to each bow for each of us who
will be in the Karlstad parsonage
on Christmas morning. My sister had been
helping my mother shop this fall. They
were all done on Thanksgiving Day. I, on
the other hand, had not given a thought to even one Christmas gift for this
year.
Are you ready for Christmas? I admire people who plan ahead, but the
question of being ready for Christmas has a deeper meaning than cards, gifts,
and decorations. The true focus of
Christmas is the gift that no money can buy.
It is the gift God the Father has given us in the person of his Son,
Jesus Christ, to be our savior and lord.
As St. Paul wrote in Romans 3
about the salvation Christ brings, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by
his blood, to be received by faith.”
Looking back on all that Our Lord has done for us, St.
Paul summed it up beautifully in these verses. But when the angels announced the birth of
Jesus to the shepherds on hills above Bethlehem
they said, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a savior which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) Even as a babe in the manger he was the gift
of God.
Are you ready for Christmas? A great way to prepare for Christmas is to
open your heart to the love of Jesus by reading his word, following his
instructions, and trusting his promises.
Preparing for Christmas is not all about frantic activity but should
also include taking some quiet time to read God’s Word, to sing the sweet
carols of faith, and quietly to ponder the awesome event we are
celebrating. As one beloved carol says,
“how silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given, as God imparts to human
hearts the blessings of his heaven.” No
matter how many Christmas memories you may have accumulated over the years, the
most important thing to remember is the great gift of that first Christmas in Bethlehem .
Are you ready for Christmas? At a recent church council meeting one of the
members read a story by my predecessor in this parish, Pastor Don Peterson,
called “A Four Dollar Christmas” from his book “Ponderings.” The title sums up the story, the story of his
most memorable Christmas when there was almost no money for gifts but there was
love and faith, and the gift no money can buy.
This is the heart of Christmas, to receive the gift of Christ by faith
and live in the assurance of his love, his presence, and his promises all
through the year.
As St. Paul
said in 2nd Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for his indescribable
gift!”
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