Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming! The pursuit
of sanity is not to let the holiday madness get the better
of you! After all, looking like the Grinch on Christmas
morning may not be the look you’re going for! Then
again, even the Grinch has his good side…recall the end
of the story when Dr. Seuss has him standing knee deep
in the snow with that puzzling look on his face asking,
“How could it be? It came without ribbons! It came
without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a
store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit
more.”
Mr. Grinch is not as green as he looks when it comes to
learning a life’s lesson that the real gift of Christmas
could never be found in a mall, bought at a store, gift
wrapped in dazzling paper or contained in a box. The
real meaning of Christmas is found in the first half of
the word itself, “Christ.” God didn’t just toss us a gift
for under the tree – God, in Christ, IS the gift. The angel
said to Joseph, “You shall call his name Emmanuel
which means God with us.”
What does this truth mean for us? It means that similar
to those magi from the east that came to worship the
Christ child, we too are called to embark on a journey to
follow him. The magi were so attuned to Christ coming
into the world that they made sure to look for him. If
they saw the star in the midst of their busy lives surely
so we can we! Sometimes, we forget to look for Christ’s
presence in our day to day hustle and bustle. These very
wise magi continue to teach us how to keep the Christ in
Christmas in the way that they modeled their commitment.
Their willingness to step out of the comfort zone
of their homeland and broaden their view of the
“community of faith” extending all the way to the manger
and back! Remember Christ wasn’t born in the wise
men’s home town; they had to risk the journey of faith
and reach out to travelers along the way.
Part of the Advent journey involves risk…the risk of
reaching out to our neighbors both near and far. Perhaps
it’s our very own version of a “neighborhood
watch?” In a “neighborhood watch” we all acknowledge
that we may live very different lives but we are connected
in the way Christ calls us to care for one another.
Along these lines, our Membership Committee just read
an article by Sue Skalicky entitled, “You can’t love your
neighbors if you don’t know them.” Her suggestion to
church congregations is that each member be asked to
make a “Neighborhood Watch Covenant” like this one:
• I will pray for 5 or more of my neighbors on a regular
basis.
• I will make an effort to learn each one of their
names and the names of their children.
• I will attempt to perform an act of kindness for one
or more of my neighbors___ times in the coming
year.
I would like to challenge us to do the same in 2010 in
our various neighborhoods! And the really good news is
that we can practice all Advent because here at RGPC
we have the opportunity to get to know our new
neighbor Rev. Phil Olson at 9601 Hubbard! God has
called Phil to this ministry and made of us one fellowship.
Just as we would welcome a new neighbor to his
home on our block we are doing the same at church. We
can hold Phil in our prayers. We can get to know him
and his family. We can perform a random act of kindness
for him.
The magi were truly present the night that Jesus was
born. We tend to think of them only in regards to the
gifts they brought to Bethlehem. We cannot miss the
fact that the magi offered the gift of themselves to Christ
under that shining star.
May God in Christ make each one of us modern magi
presenting our lives as our living gift at the manger and
all through the year as we reach out to our neighbors.
May all that we do shine forth with the love of the one
who calls us to community this season!
Your Partner in Ministry, Kellie