Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/215736
What We Need Is a Gift BILLY WATERS, MDIV ALUMNUS AND PASTOR AT WELLSPRING ANGLICAN CHURCH something in the hearts people like no other ThereinisitsWhat celebrationChristmasinseason that resonates in theJanuary,ofaswallowingtransform holiday. begins November and goes until all other events wake? What other holiday has the nostalgic weight to compel family to their home four weeks prior to the event? There is something about the idea of Christmas that rings true with the world. What is it? The backdrop of Isaiah 9 is gloom, darkness, and despair. The wisdom of the world isn't working. The more its inhabitants listen to politicians, philosophers, and even their own hearts, the more their desperation increases. Isaiah is not being sappy or sentimental but utterly realistic. This same darkness is seen today in acts of oppression, natural disasters, and in our own hearts. What Israel needed then is what we need now. We need something that delivers us from our anger, self-pity, lack of patience, destructive habits, and rebellious thought patterns. To quote the famous hymn, "Long lay the world in sin and error pining." We need something beyond ourselves: We need a gift. "FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN..." (ISA. 9:6) Isaiah 9 begins with a word of hope: "Nevertheless." A light has dawned and despair has given way to hope. A gift is given (Isa. 9:6). What is the gift? Or better yet, who is the gift? "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." This gift will take all that is wrong and make it right. This gift is God in the flesh. Jesus didn't merely come into the world. Jesus was given for the world. Everything from creation to re-creation is a gift given to us by the hand of a gracious God. And the only fitting response to a gift is gratitude. Our time spent this Christmas with friends and family—gift. The food we eat—gift. The snow that covers the ground—gift. And, ultimately, God's one and only Son who was given to redeem the world—Gift. The appropriate reply to God's greatest gift is thanksgiving. What will lift us out of any gloom, despair, or anxiety over the pace of this season is gratitude for God's greatest gift, Jesus Christ. How is God inviting you into greater gratitude this Christmas season? 14 DECEMBER DENVER SEMINARY CHRISTMAS 2013 19