Gowans on Christmas

Retired General John Gowans has a unique literary skill that always captures my attention. Here's one such gem that powerfully transforms profound theological truth into basic human understanding. May the words impact you as deeply as they do me!

There's nothing new about unwanted gifts. The first Christmas gift had a mixed reception, though it was blindingly beautiful. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger, God had made a gift of himself to a world which badly needed him, but didn't know it.

In the first chapter of John's Gospel we find a stunning statement. Speaking of the Son of God it says: "He came unto his own ... ." He came to the human creatures that he had made and joined them. He came to the vulnerability, which is part of being human; the limitations, the hurts, the disappointments, the suffering and the distress. Christ was God incarnate, totally sharing the human experience, including the messy business of coming into the world and getting out of it. God identified himself with humanity. He made the gift of himself.

But the most wonderful phrase is followed by the most sad. "He came unto his own -- and his own received him not!" They showed him the door! God was not welcome. He was an unwanted gift.

Christmas is part of the world's history, but it is also a contemporary event. God is forever coming into the world, your world and mine. He is always offering the gift of himself as a counselor, a protector, a companion, a comforter, a healer, a Saviour.