When you ponder who God is and what He is like, how do you perceive Him?  

If you were to poll a crowd with this question, answers would be pretty diverse and probably contradictory!  For instance, some tend to see Him as a critical, condemning judge, one who loves scowling, pointing His finger at people and swinging His gavel with a loud “Guilty!”  Others perceive Him as a cheerleader for a certain team: “You guys (Christians) are on my team, so you are gonna win! Any other team is gonna lose!” Others may view Him as absent until a person dies, and then He will take those who have accepted Him to be with Him, and also be content to cast everyone else into hell.  

The fact is that none of the above is accurate.  To prove it, consider these words about Jesus from Methodist pastor Mike Slaughter:  

“Jesus was not what most folks expected.  When you think about God, adjectives like powerful, majestic, and almighty tend to come to mind.  But Jesus did not come to the earth with any air of worldly wealth or majestic power. On the contrary, everything about Jesus’ life stood in stark contrast to worldly priorities and values.  He arrived on the scene not in strength but in weakness. He was born a Palestinian Jew, into a community of marginalized, oppressed people, spending His early years as a refugee in Africa, eluding political genocide.  His formative years were spent in a nondescript village, as a member of an ordinary working-class family.  

As a man, He lived in tension with the organized religious system.  He resisted the world’s obsessions with wealth, pleasure, power, and recognition.  He identified with the weak and powerless, the widow and the orphan. He did not condemn but defended the sinner.  

So what does God look like?  Like Jesus! Jesus was the embodiment of God’s values and priorities.  He is Immanuel, ‘God with us.’ (Matthew 1:23) In Jesus, we see not only the face of God but also the fullness of His humanity, who you and I are created to be.  I can believe in a God who looks like Jesus!”  

Me too!  How about you?

If you have read about Jesus in the Gospels and seen His acts of compassion toward the hurting and offers of kindness and grace to sinners, can you imagine Him enthusiastically shouting “Guilty!” at sinners?  Can you imagine Him cheering on His personal “team” while blowing a raspberry at everyone else? Can you really imagine Him only being interested in us after death? When we truly see Jesus, such views are laughable!

Here is why I share this in a December newsletter.  Christmas will soon arrive. Just as we get wrong ideas about who God is, we can also get wrong ideas about what Christmas is.  Our culture, generally speaking, focuses more on Santa Claus and what “he” places under the tree than about the coming of Jesus!  

Isn’t it interesting: When a child’s birthday rolls around, there is a culturally enforced expectation of gifts, right?  When Christmas rolls around … well … the expectation is the same, is it not?! How did it get to be about us!?! It’s not our birthday*!  

Here is the deal:  God didn’t have to come down in human form.  If He didn’t, however, we would still think He is was a harsh judge as opposed to full of love and grace.  He sacrificed by coming to us.  

Also, God didn’t have to go to the cross for us.  If He didn’t, however, we would still be judged according to the law, rather than by His grace.  Again, He sacrificed by coming to us.

Our culture will be enormously angry at me for saying this, but, truly, Christmas is not about us!  Rather, it is about God and His willingness to sacrifice for us. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday!

Do you know what I think Jesus would want for His birthday?  I think He would like us to acknowledge His sacrifice. Some readers may hear that and think of Jesus as having a need for affirmation, or even a pride issue.  That is not at all what I mean though. What I mean is, if we truly recognize Jesus’ sacrifice – the extent to which Jesus went for our sakes – we will also want to follow His example!

  And we don’t have to go to a cross to do this!  We just have to allow His willingness to sacrifice for us to move our hearts to sacrifice for others.  Again, I’m not talking about sacrificing by giving stocking stuffers or x-boxes or new cars. I’m talking about looking for creative ways to assist Jesus with His purpose in the world.  Consider this Old Testament text that reflects Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives 
and release from darkness for the prisoners ….” 

How can we help the poor on Christmas?  How can we work to bind up the brokenhearted?  How can we reach out to those who are held captive by sin?  How can we help bring light to those who are in the dark?  

May your Christmas be about finding and implementing answers to these questions!  If you do … I think Jesus will LOVE His birthday present!  

Christmas blessings to all!  Pastor Bill 

*My most sincere apology to Garrett Lundberg who does just happen to be a Christmas baby!