People received it – didn’t they?

‘THIS is the best gift ever!’ These words will echo around the world at Christmas as love is expressed and relationships celebrated. Advent retains at its centre a gift. Indeed, it is the best gift ever because of what it makes possible.
• God breaks the silence and fulfils a prophetic promise.
• Darkness is dispelled; the Light of the World has come.
• Hope is offered; God ‘with us’ becomes a reality.
• Forgiveness bridges the gap – the great chasm between the Creator and the created is no more.
• God draws near; the Comforter has come.

God so loved that he gave, and the gift of Advent – the babe of Bethlehem – makes so much possible when the gift is received.

As I consider the gift-giving process, I focus on the receiving of the gift as being quite significant. I have been waiting since August to receive a birthday gift and – because of postal errors and a ‘return to sender’ episode – I am still waiting. Maybe it will become a Christmas gift! This personal experience has caused me to reflect on the crowds of people I encounter every day. Have they received the gift? As a matter of interest, is a gift really a gift if it remains unopened – not received?

This gift of God – the Advent of Christ, the sentiment that ‘God so loved the world’ – has universal implications. Churches around the world will light candles, read the Christmas story and celebrate Christ’s coming. Huge numbers will be present to hear the message again. The characters of the story come alive.
• Mary and Joseph are lifted as heroes of obedience.
• The Magi are commended for their perseverance, their choice of gifts and their desire to worship.
• Shepherds are named as the first to hear the good news.

In every way possible the stage is set; in every way possible Jesus comes again and God’s gift is celebrated. The question remains: have we received him?

Earlier in my officership I was given Corrie’s Christmas Memories – a book of brief readings and reflections by Corrie ten Boom. Her story comes from her experience as a wartime survivor. She watched her charming Amsterdam change with the occupation of the Nazis. She took pity on Jews and hid many of them until she was caught and became a prisoner at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

I opened the small book with anticipation and curiosity. The words that have had a lasting impact on my ministry are found at the conclusion. Corrie writes: ‘For you know: if our Lord were born a thousand times in Bethlehem and not in you, you would be lost anyhow.’

The Scriptures remind us that Jesus came. God ordained it, the prophets foretold it and John announced it. Jesus came, heralded as the Saviour of the world, good news to all people, a light to shine in the darkness, the most precious gift from Creator to created, with the hope that people would receive it – but did they?

Let me remind you of the beginning of John’s Gospel: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it’ (1:1–5 all quotations from the New International Version).

We could go back and argue over the point of when a gift is really a gift – when it is chosen, purchased and given, or when it is received and appreciated. In the context of Advent, the gift of the Saviour is not in question; the challenge remains for many to receive him into their lives.

My birthday gift may never show up, but God has. His offer of forgiveness, wholeness and hope is available and continually given to any who are willing to receive.

Matthew 1:23 says: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means, “God with us”.’

May it be so this Christmas, as again we receive him into our hearts and lives. This is the best gift ever!

By Colonel Brian Peddle