Too often we view God like Santa Claus, a genie in a bottle
here to fulfill our three wishes. All we have to do is name it and claim it,
believe it and receive it. We have created a Santa Claus Jesus in our own
image, a golden calf messiah who promises to fulfill all our earthly wants and
wishes, an idol of consumption who supports the human quest for meaning and
purpose in material things outside of a relationship with God.
Think of how we describe Santa…”He sees you when you are
sleeping……He knows if you have been bad or good.” Our popular notion of Santa reflects
the way we have reduced God to a mythical watchdog who judges our niceness or
naughtiness and metes out rewards and punishment accordingly.
This is not the God we see in Jesus. Jesus was not the
messiah most people were expecting and hoping for. He did not come shimming
down the chimney bearing gifts for good boys and girls. God’s gifts cannot fit in a stocking but must
be received in our hearts. Neither does
God leave a lump of coal for those who have erred off the plan. “For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn but to save.” (John 3:17)
This is important because the picture you have of God has everything to do with
the shaping of your faith and values. If your picture of God is distorted, your
life perspective will be skewed. With
this faulty image of Jesus as magical gift giver, it is no wonder our expectations
of the Christmas season have become distorted. God doesn't do magic. Magic is
an illusion, meant for entertainment and not for transformation. God came to
work miracles in broken lives that live in a broken world.
The ideal magical Christmas experience is unattainable. We
stress ourselves out and even go into debt to create that warm fuzzy feeling
for both ourselves and our families, but that feeling doesn't last. The real
meaning of Christmas gets lost in the chaotic clutter of shopping, spending,
escalating debt, making exhausting preparations and building stacks of gifts
that most of don’t want, don’t need and or will never use. Anyone besides me have items in their closet
from Christmas past that have never been worn? In the chaos of the holiday season we miss the
true gift, Emanuel, God with us.
Enjoy all of your family Christmas traditions, decorate,
shop and bake. Take your children to see Santa and delight in the blessing of
gift giving and gift receiving. At the same time, remember to teach an accurate
and clear picture of who Jesus really is to your family. Here are a few teaching points.
Everything about a Jesus life stood in stark contrast to our
worldly priorities and values. He
arrived on the scene not in strength but in weakness. He was born among an oppressed people, living
his early years as a refugee in Africa eluding political genocide. He grew up
in a working class family. As a man he lived in tension with organized religion. He resisted the world’s
obsessions with wealth, pleasure, power and recognition. He identified with the weak, the powerless,
the widow and the orphan. He did not
condemn but defended the sinner.He came to show us God as the perfect parent who offers us unconditional love and the encouragement to live a godly life.
So who does God look like, Santa or Jesus? Like Jesus! Jesus was the embodiment of God’s values and
priorities. He is Emmanuel, “God with
us.” In Jesus we see not only the face
of God, but all the fullness of his humanity, who you and I are created to me.
I can believe in a God who looks like Jesus.
Can you? Santa does.
Peace,
Rick
