The Gifts of Christmas in a Troubled World

“What was one of the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus?”

 

A third grader in my elementary-age Sunday School class was more than a little excited to answer my question. “I know, I know, I know!” he exclaimed.“Frankenstein!”

 

After pulling myself together (and now forever associating frankincense with Frankenstein), we continued to talk about how people visited a little baby in a stable and brought gifts to Him because He was a King. More importantly, we talked about how that baby, Jesus, also brings gifts to us.

 

The specific gifts Jesus brings are the four themes that many of us focus on during the Advent season: hope, peace, joy and love. Because of Jesus, those gifts are available to us in deep and meaningful ways, but sometimes the difficult realities many of us encounter on a daily basis cloud those gifts from view – making it hard to comprehend or even trust those gifts are available.

 

 

This year, as the Director of Recruiting at YouthWorks, I’ve heard countless stories during our interview process with potential staff – stories of people who are struggling financially or working to overcome consequences of past sin or searching for love anywhere they can get it.

 

This year, as a pastor in my urban congregation in Minneapolis, I’ve wept alongside a family as they’ve only started to mourn the loss of their 16-year-old son to suicide. I’ve sat beside the beds of far too many people diagnosed with cancer. I’ve befriended a homeless woman who’s deepest desire in her 55 years on this planet has been to be a mother, and she still only has cats.

 

And as a citizen of this world, I’ve watched unjustifiable acts of terrorism inflict children around the world. I’ve seen racism alive and well in many places within my own country. And I’ve struggled personally withfalling short ofpleasing God and,instead, put my own desires first.

 

There is real, hard stuff going on in our lives and in our world, and a quick flashing of the peace sign or a proclamation of hope doesn’t really cut it. These words might bring momentary comfort when spoken or they may look artistically appeasing on the front of a greeting card or protest sign, but on their own they are not enough.

 

These gifts – hope, peace, joy, love – must be tied to the One who is able to bring these themes into our reality.

 

Jesus can do this, because He lived the human experience with us. Through His interactions and teachings, He showed us how to live the best way possible as He shouldered up with people right where they were. He didn’t sit separate from them to judge motives, actions or thoughts. Instead He ate and drank with people. He went to parties, asked questions and listened. He walked around and did life with people. He brought about hope, peace, joy and love, even in the midst of a troubled world.

 

Jesus also brings those themes to reality because He is God in human form, and He took on ultimate punishment for all the darkness in this world. His ultimate sacrifice of suffering crucifixion, experiencing death but then rising from the dead was filled with so much power – a power that is somewhat incomprehensible.

 

Despite the fact that we cannot completely understand it, we can claim part of that power when we acknowledge who God is. When we pair that with imitating Jesus’ lifestyle, it makes hope, peace, joy and love truly possible – for ourselves and for others. We are able to offer, at minimum, glimpses of those gifts here in a troubled world and live in faith that we will be saturated with them in the life to come.

 

May your remaining Advent season be one that includes living in God’s power and imitating the ways of Jesus, from His meek beginnings in a stable to His shouldering up with people on the margins, so that Jesus’ gifts of this season may take root in your own life and that hope, peace, joy and love may also be made known to others through you.

 

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Since 2002, Mayme has served in a variety of roles at YouthWorks. Her love for people, organization, strategic-planning, teamwork, creativity and conversation all come into play in her leadership of the Recruiting Team. Mayme’s other loves include living in the city, arranging flowers for weddings, practicing hospitality, riding her scooter in the summer and spending time laughing and learning with her husband Conner.