Unexpected Package

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“The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
He will create calm with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Zephaniah 3:17 CEB -
I love getting packages! Something about even the expected order from Amazon that is sitting on your doorstep is great! I think I am joined by many, many others for whom just the sheer joy of opening a package is fun. Even if you think you know what you are getting, opening it in person is filled with just a moment of the unknown. Will it be what I think I am getting? Is it what I imagined it would look like? Do I even know or remember what this package might be? The physicality of seeing the package revealed paired with the actual moment of claiming what is yours is wonderful. Obviously this raw giving nature of Christmas taps into just this with wrapped gifts and surprises.

What I think is so tricky about Christmas for us at times is that we have had to open the same package from God over and over again. “Oh look! Baby Jesus again! Just what I always wanted!” So much like the article of clothing that you get from your parents that you know you need but for which you are just never quite that excited about, we tend to lose the delight of what the birth of Christ means for us.

Sometimes this is why I love reading the Old Testament Christmas texts. They are all ways in which Christ was foretold about and alluded to. This verse from the often overlooked book of Zephaniah reminds us how God is in our midst, but God is doing things a little differently than expected. Through the gift of Jesus, God is a warrior bringing victory but also creates calm through love. This is why it is so easy to miss baby Jesus sometimes. Instead of exactly what we expect or think we want, Christ comes with a mixed bag of surprises. Jesus is King and Son of God, but Jesus comes through the backdoor, practically unannounced (besides of course the scallywag shepherds & foreign wise men) through a messy stable manger. We think Jesus is going to come and set things straight and get this world whipped into shape and instead Jesus challenges us with hard ideas like loving your enemies and welcoming all in love and kindness like a child. Talk about an unexpected gift!

My prayer for myself as well as for everyone else is that we do not miss the joy of Christmas and advent of baby Jesus by looking for the wrong package at our door. 

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