Ho, HO, Whoa...

“So this is Christmas
and what have you done
another year over
and a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young…”
-John Lennon
So, a striking reminder came to me today, while watching Jentzen Franklin, of what Christmas really is all about. It is a joyous season of giving but sadly many of us are pursuing the wrong kind of giving and we become focused to the point of obsession on giving the perfect gift. It is widely reported that the majority of holiday stress and depression is based on buying and giving holiday gifts. I am no different from many others who want to give things instead of do things. But, I am really trying to do better about this. I am learning to be intentional and thoughtful instead of irrational and impulsive. This is where the stores try to use their magical power to appeal to our emotions and create a false sense of the joy of giving. For many, there is no joy because we worry needlessly about THE right gift. We may not even be able to afford a gift, or are limited in the amount of gifts we can buy. I am reminded of “The Little Drummer Boy” when he said “I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give the King”. It is only natural that we want to give good and fitting gifts to those we love. Jesus was no different and freely gave gifts that were not even asked for. In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus said, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Maybe the bigger question to ask is what gifts will I be giving to Him this year? What gift can I bring? What do I have to offer? Maybe we don’t because we feel our gift is so insignificant and not fit for the King, like the little drummer boy. So he used what he had and played the drum. And then what happened? ”then He smiled at me”. So, I really pondered, and have been this entire holiday season, this idea of how I can give gifts from the heart and not necessarily from the wallet? I really believe that this is a big lesson that God is revealing to me this Christmas. So often I have caught myself thinking about and focused on the gifts that I cannot give as opposed to the ones I can give. We need to turn this around. I think this is at the core of what provokes many of us to reject the commercial aspects of Christmas. As a result of this longing for an authentic Christmas, the ADVENT CONSPIRACY was born. This challenges us in many ways to rethink our entire notion of what gifts lay within us and not buying something external to us to appease our anxiety and fear. This heartfelt desire causes us to be much more thoughtful and purposeful about the recipient instead of mindlessly checking them off of the “list”. One thing about thinking about Christmas in this way, it makes you very aware of the fact that life isn’t about things…it’s about relationships. And, I have been blessed with some amazing relationships this year. You see, I never really was a relationship guy and certainly didn’t see the necessity of relationships with anyone other than my God and my immediate family. But something changed this summer. ME. Yep, that’s right God turned me inside out changed me in a powerful way and showed me some stuff about relationships. And, quite shockingly to me, I came to love this crazy, funny, awe inspiring and Jesus loving bunch of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” riding our bikes across the US. The gifts we received and gifts we gave are really too numerous to count. Gifts came in the most unexpected ways and from the most unexpected people. How could you ever begin to try to give back what you have been given? This is the question I have wrestled with a lot, especially at Christmas, the “giving season”. So, In lieu of a gift card…uggh, or a smartly wrapped present, I’ll just give to everyone this year what I can give the best. I will give the gifts of love, faith and courage. This is what I have been given in such abundance, many times by people I didn’t even know. I am required to give some back because I am commanded by Jesus to do so and this is the gospel that’s real and life changing and transforming. So, my one desire for you this Christmas is that I could neatly wrap those three things, love, faith, and courage, and put them secretly under your Christmas tree that’s what you would find with a cute little gift tag that said “ all my love, Iron Mike”…