John 19:31-37
The next day would be both a Sabbath and the Passover. It was a special day for the Jewish people, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses during that day. So they asked Pilate to break the men's legs and take their bodies down. The soldiers first broke the legs of the other two men who were nailed there. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, and they did not break his legs. One of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side, and blood and water came out. We know this is true, because it was told by someone who saw it happen. Now you can have faith too. All this happened so that the Scriptures would come true, which say, "No bone of his body will be broken" and, "They will see the one in whose side they stuck a spear."
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
For the last week, I’ve been sitting with my grandmother, who is in the hospital. Thankfully, she is doing well and should go home soon. But down the hall in one direction, people line up to receive chemotherapy and other medical treatments. In the other direction, a family grieves as one of their loved ones spends her last days on Hospice. A friend posted on Facebook that he and his wife are taking turns sitting with his mother-in-law who is nearing the end of her life. I know people who can't find a job, and others who can't pay their bills or provide their family with "a big Christmas" this year. All around us, many people are anything but joyful this Christmas season.
The hospital is tastefully festive with beautifully decorated Christmas trees and other holiday decorations. On the lawn outside sits a large lighted Nativity scene, and a lighted wreath adorns the building’s exterior. Everywhere we look, there are signs of the season, and cheerful people. This is meant to be a happy time. But we can’t talk about the joy and excitement of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ without also remembering the ugliness of His death. While there is plenty to celebrate this season… and there are lessons of faith and hope galore in the story of Jesus’ birth… the true message comes in the crucifixion. If Jesus had come to earth and walked among us then died of old age, disease or even a tragic accident, He would have still been a great man… but His most ultimate purpose would not have been fulfilled. In order to receive the Good News, you have to get through “the bad and the ugly” first.
So as we celebrate Christmas, smile at our neighbors, sing jolly songs and shout “Ho! Ho! Ho!”, let’s also remember that this is not such a Merry Christmas for some. Their joy is diminished this season by illness…death and loss…lack of income – or food, clothing and shelter… abuse…loneliness, and more. But the HOPE of Christmas can belong to ALL of us… because our Hope lies in the cross of Calvary and the blood of Jesus’ shed there. You can’t have Christmas without the cross… but because of Jesus and everything He did for us, we have the promise of Eternal Life.
This is the message we really should share this season. As we greet people with the cheerful salutations of the holiday season, we should also remind them of the HOPE this season represents. We should be sensitive to the needs and feelings of those around us and temper our holiday cheer with words of encouragement and the promise of God’s unfailing love for His children. One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to cultivate disciples who would share His message… and WE are those disciples – or at least we should be!
So wish others a Merry Christmas… but never forget the cross. Offer more than a happy greeting to those you meet. Take time to offer hope to those who need it and to share the Good News of the cross, as well. Be a disciple for Christ in this season – and always. Celebrate Jesus’ birth… and thank Him for what He did for us at Calvary.
©2011 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for December 25, 2010
Philippians 2:3
Don't be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
NBC Nightly News recently reported on Tracy Hall, a woman in Silver Spring, Maryland, who came up with an idea called “The Gift Tree,” which provides gifts to the children of soldiers who are stationed at Walter Reed. Hall’s own husband, an Army physician, is now deployed in Afghanistan. She created a gift registry through Target.com and Amazon.com, where people can purchase gifts or gift cards to provide items on the wish lists of the soldiers’ children, who register through a secure online application form.
The Walter Reed Auxiliary goes through the applications and lists the items on The Gift Tree for people to purchase. Each gift is wrapped and placed in a box for that particular child. Then parents stop by Hall’s home and retrieve their child’s gift box in time for Christmas. Hall said donations come largely from people in the metro Washington, DC, area… but they have had purchases by people in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania – all over the country.
Aside from the massive scope of this operation… the large number of volunteers who catalog, wrap, and coordinate all of these gifts… I was struck by something else about Tracy Hall. When Christmas is over, she personally writes a thank-you note to everyone who donated. We have to be talking hundreds of people. She said it was the least she could do for those who were so generous.
Here’s the thing… we tend to think we have really outdone ourselves if we write a check to a local charity or bake an extra loaf of banana bread for a neighbor during the holidays. I’ll be the first to tell you that I have been guilty of having good intentions… but not acting on them. So that elderly person who has no family or close friends to visit them at Christmas time sits at home alone… it’s just another day/week/month for them. The young single mother who can barely feed her family and keep the lights and heat on has to explain to her children why their classmates got all these wonderful things on Christmas morning… and they got their same old bowl of cold cereal.
As we buy our Christmas presents and drive to Grandma’s to celebrate the holidays in style, we don’t think about those who worked to check our groceries, clean the motel room in which we will stay or sell us a cup of coffee as we travel… all for little more than minimum wage. We don’t think of their families and how they will manage to provide a merry Christmas for them.
Yet this young mother with a small son, whose husband is deployed to Afghanistan, opened her own home to become “Santa Central” for the children and families of other soldiers. Surely she must be tired. She had decked the halls of her house with holiday décor, and she greeted those who visited warmly. But you know she has plenty to do to care for her own household and young child. Still, she thought of others. She said, “I know how I would feel if I couldn’t do the extra little things for my own son.” She put herself in others’ shoes.
The story of Christmas is not just for today… it is for every day of the year. Whose shoes are you wearing? Do you hunker down and take care of yourself and let others fend for themselves? Do you look around for needs to meet… and then do something about them? We need more “Tracy Halls” in this world who consider others to be more important than themselves. Are you willing to step up and be one?
©2010 Debbie Robus
To learn more about The Gift Tree at Walter Reed, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40153870/. For more inspiring “Making a Difference” stories, go to http://www.makingadifference.msnbc.com/.
Don't be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
NBC Nightly News recently reported on Tracy Hall, a woman in Silver Spring, Maryland, who came up with an idea called “The Gift Tree,” which provides gifts to the children of soldiers who are stationed at Walter Reed. Hall’s own husband, an Army physician, is now deployed in Afghanistan. She created a gift registry through Target.com and Amazon.com, where people can purchase gifts or gift cards to provide items on the wish lists of the soldiers’ children, who register through a secure online application form.
The Walter Reed Auxiliary goes through the applications and lists the items on The Gift Tree for people to purchase. Each gift is wrapped and placed in a box for that particular child. Then parents stop by Hall’s home and retrieve their child’s gift box in time for Christmas. Hall said donations come largely from people in the metro Washington, DC, area… but they have had purchases by people in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania – all over the country.
Aside from the massive scope of this operation… the large number of volunteers who catalog, wrap, and coordinate all of these gifts… I was struck by something else about Tracy Hall. When Christmas is over, she personally writes a thank-you note to everyone who donated. We have to be talking hundreds of people. She said it was the least she could do for those who were so generous.
Here’s the thing… we tend to think we have really outdone ourselves if we write a check to a local charity or bake an extra loaf of banana bread for a neighbor during the holidays. I’ll be the first to tell you that I have been guilty of having good intentions… but not acting on them. So that elderly person who has no family or close friends to visit them at Christmas time sits at home alone… it’s just another day/week/month for them. The young single mother who can barely feed her family and keep the lights and heat on has to explain to her children why their classmates got all these wonderful things on Christmas morning… and they got their same old bowl of cold cereal.
As we buy our Christmas presents and drive to Grandma’s to celebrate the holidays in style, we don’t think about those who worked to check our groceries, clean the motel room in which we will stay or sell us a cup of coffee as we travel… all for little more than minimum wage. We don’t think of their families and how they will manage to provide a merry Christmas for them.
Yet this young mother with a small son, whose husband is deployed to Afghanistan, opened her own home to become “Santa Central” for the children and families of other soldiers. Surely she must be tired. She had decked the halls of her house with holiday décor, and she greeted those who visited warmly. But you know she has plenty to do to care for her own household and young child. Still, she thought of others. She said, “I know how I would feel if I couldn’t do the extra little things for my own son.” She put herself in others’ shoes.
The story of Christmas is not just for today… it is for every day of the year. Whose shoes are you wearing? Do you hunker down and take care of yourself and let others fend for themselves? Do you look around for needs to meet… and then do something about them? We need more “Tracy Halls” in this world who consider others to be more important than themselves. Are you willing to step up and be one?
©2010 Debbie Robus
To learn more about The Gift Tree at Walter Reed, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40153870/. For more inspiring “Making a Difference” stories, go to http://www.makingadifference.msnbc.com/.
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