In some families, it is an endless debate: 

“Do we really need to put ribbon and bows on a package? Does it really matter?”

In my family of origin, David, my brother, was an artist. He enjoyed painting and drawing and made some beautiful works of art. When he sat down to wrap Christmas presents, it was not a quick and easy task. He took the time to carefully wrap ribbons and attach handmade bows that matched the gift perfectly. As the younger sibling I was impatient and could not believe that it took him F O R E V E R to wrap gifts! Beauty, not speed, was his objective. He wanted the recipient to feel loved and appreciated. 

My great aunt Edna also practiced the fine art of wrapping gifts. She would tie fun attachments to our gifts: jingle bells, glittery snowflakes, Santas, and reindeer.

Today, I confess that while I enjoy wrapping presents, I do not always put beauty over speed. I do attempt to make the package pleasant looking, occasionally using hand-tied bows and ribbon, but I do not consistently treat each gift as a potential work of art.

I wonder how God would answer the question about wrapping as God considered how to come to earth. Somehow, I think it mattered. God chose to send our Savior in special “wrapping,” choosing Mary, an obedient teenage girl to give birth to Jesus. Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message, helps us see the importance of how the “wrapping” God chose that first Christmas mattered:

“The Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1:14)

Our Advent series, A Charlie Brown Christmas, continues this Sunday. Please read Luke 1:46-55 to prepare your heart for worship. We will explore Mary’s response to Gabriel’s announcement that she would give birth to God’s Son and call him Jesus. 

As you wrap your presents this season, I invite you to give thanks to God, rejoicing that God chose to come wrapped in human skin as a baby who could be held by a mother and his earthly father. As Mary and Joseph held him and sang to him, they held the Hope of the World, Jesus. 

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday; invite a friend, relative, or neighbor to join you!

Peace,

Pastor Cathy Johns