Seth Carter

Many people would say this is their favorite holiday, or their favorite time of year. Singers on our Christmas playlists croon, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Hallmark movies show a plethora of stories invoking romance and warm feelings.

Each year, many of us (it’s not just me, is it?) make “Christmas resolutions,” vowing to get all our gifts purchased and wrapped before Christmas Eve this time, or promising to make more time to slow down and really enjoy the anticipation of Advent and the real meaning of Christmas. As the popular slogan goes, Jesus is the reason for the season. If this is true, it has significant implications far beyond gifts, family and traditions.

The Bible is a grand story showing how humankind rebelled against the creator, choosing the self-satisfying life style of the great deceiver, Satan, the antagonist of the story. But the Bible doesn’t put forward that this is simply a fictional narrative: It is the reality of the world.

The result of believing that God is holding something back from us and choosing our own way is separation from God, our loving creator, protector and source of life. This breaks his heart, to be separated from the ones he loves and he has a plan to restore our relationship with him!

As we reflect on the birth of Jesus, it is so much more than a serene and beautiful picture of a baby being born on a clear, starry night on the edge of a picturesque little Middle Eastern village.

Let’s consider the birth mother here, Mary. Mary was asked to be part of something that had never been done in all of time, to miraculously carry a baby, conceived in her as a special creative act of God, even though she was a virgin. She was asked to risk her reputation and her marriage. She was risking her family’s reputation. She was being asked to lay down her individual self, to deny her self, to obey God. When she said yes, understanding the risks, she was finding life. Indeed, she was bringing life to all of us! For in the life of this child, a way back was made for all of us to be reconciled with the true love and desire of our hearts, God.

Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, Dec. 11) talks of our individuality like the shell of a seed, protecting our spiritual life, as the husk of a seed protects the new life of the latent plant. At some point, the husk of the seed must give way to the process of life, which involves being planted in the ground, buried. When this occurs, the new life is allowed to flourish and produce for which it is designed.

Who else in the historical Christmas story surrendered their individuality to the will of God? Joseph, the future adoptive father of this miracle baby, listened to the voice of an angel that appeared in a dream, instructing him to do the unthinkable. Joseph, the Bible tells us, was a righteous man, and compassionate; although he would have been within his rights to make a public spectacle of Mary and her family, he was going to divorce her quietly and deal with his disappointment quietly. God created this man with some individual characteristics that now had to be surrendered to the will of God in obedience in order to bring flourishing. Joseph found life, albeit not the life he expected or dreamt of, by following the will of God.

There are others too, of course. As you reflect on the characters of the Christmas story, think how each of them fulfilled the later words of Jesus when he said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)

Please don’t let this Christmas season pass without also reflecting on how you can surrender your individuality to find real life. The king is calling you. He left heaven and was born in a dirty stable so that as a man, he would give his life in the ultimate sacrifice in your place and mine. Our attempts at working harder or simply trying to be better are really nice sounding attempts at preserving our individual will, but Jesus says we will lose our life this way. Jesus is asking us to do the opposite of this, denying ourself, surrendering in obedience to his will. In doing this, we will find the life he has for us. Merry Christmas! May you find that Jesus is alive in you this season!

(Seth Carter is the director of Campus Ventures in Powell.)