By Rev. Deanna Woodward
Maple Leaf Parish –
United Methodist Churches of Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston and Spring Valley
Unless you’re postponing your celebration until after December 25, by the time this is printed, most readers will have already opened the presents under the Christmas tree, and possibly have taken down the tree itself. The idea of presents has been a part of Christmas for a long time. When the Wise Men who followed the Christmas star came and worshiped the young Jesus, they brought him gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh — and started a tradition. And so we celebrate His birth by exchanging gifts, remembering that Jesus is the greatest gift that was ever given or received, opening the way for us to receive forgiveness, salvation and everlasting life.
Some gift tags read “Do Not Open Before Christmas” or “Do Not Open Until December 25”! When I was a child, I needed a reminder like that. I was the kid who shook the packages under the tree because my curiosity would get the best of me. Though I never had the nerve to unwrap and rewrap my presents to discover what I was getting before Christmas, I was the one who snooped in every closet and looked under every bed, so that my parents had to keep figuring out clever places to hide things. As an adult, they later told me where they used to hide gifts — a place I never thought to look. I won’t divulge their hiding place because some of you may hide things in this same location each year to keep ahead of the snoops in your household!
Waiting to open our wrapped packages allows us to enjoy the surprise and anticipation of gift giving and receiving. Now I’m the person who likes to take my time and admire the beautiful wrapping while my children get frustrated and say, “Hurry up, Mom, and rip that paper off!” But there is no need to wait to open the greatest Christmas present. God’s gift of Jesus has already been given. What we must do is to open OURSELVES to receive this gift.
The forgiveness of sins, peace with God, ourselves and others, the hope that defeats even death itself, these are the gifts that came down to earth at Christmas when love came down, wrapped in the person of Jesus Christ. We can enjoy this gift before, during, and after Christmas and every day of the year. As the old hymn goes, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.”
Open Before, During and After Christmas
