cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
Not Your Average Birthday Party
Tuesday, December 3, 2002
My 3 daughters received an invitation recently to a birthday party for a 7-year-old girl that they know from our homeschool network. The invitations (she made one for each girl) stated the time and place of the party and one other very important detail. This little girl clearly stated what she wanted my girls to get her for her birthday. No, this was not some type of "birthday party registry" at the local department store. Instead, I would need to take my girls to a grocery store to get the desired gifts.Sarah had decided that she had enough toys and that there were others who had needs that she could help meet. My girls were instructed to bring a selection of non-perishable food items to be collected for the Salvation Army for their Christmas hampers. What's truly amazing is that this is now the third straight year she has done this for her birthday. Yepper, she was only a 5-year-old when she first got the idea, and it wasn't something her parents foisted on her, either. I must say, it is refreshing to come across someone who is celebrating her birthday by giving to others instead of receiving gifts for herself.
This wonderful story reminds me of the One who celebrated His Son's birthday, His first one on earth, by giving to others. One of the most famous verses in the Bible describes this love of the Heavenly Father: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life." This is found in John 3:16. This is the story of Christmas. God was busy thinking of fallen creation when He made the supreme sacrifice of giving us His only Son.
Don't you find it interesting that at Christmas we can get so preoccupied with what others are going to give us for His birthday? Have you ever heard of a birthday party where the honoured guest was someone in need, and not the one with the actual birthday? It may seem strange, and yet this is exactly how the Lord operates. Christmas is truly His gift to us. Sure, there were wise men who lavished great gifts on this King, but that was in response to His greater gift to them, the peace of God. In the Hebrew language, the word for "peace" is "shalom" which means "wholeness." Any "part" that we can give back at Christmas is a reflection of the "whole."
Thank-you, Sarah, for reminding me about the real emphasis of Christmas. You've demonstrated true love, the kind of love that the Father showed when He gave us His only Son to be our Saviour. Now that is what Christmas is all about!
