Save the Paper
Dec.25,2013
http://graceandspace.org
“[Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Philippians 2:7
Above the joyful sounds of Christmas morning, as children
open their presents in attack mode, you can usually hear someone older
and wiser saying, “Don’t rip the paper. Save it for next year!” It’s a
Christmas thing as deeply embedded in Christmas tradition as jingle
bells and holly. The point is that valuable wrapping paper is worth
keeping.
Jesus, God’s ultimate gift, came in wrapping paper that is worth
keeping. In Jesus’ case, it’s the wrapping that makes the gift so
valuable.
When God decided to come to earth as a gift to all mankind, He could
have wrapped the gift in a far more spectacular way than He did. Imagine
how mind-boggling it would have been for Him to light up the sky with
His presence in a celestial show of brilliant power and might. But
instead, He chose to come to our planet by wrapping Himself in the
likeness of common folk like you and me. As our text says, He chose to
take on the form of human likeness—and that of a servant to boot!
So why is this wrapping so important? It shows that He understands
what it’s like to be human. He is no stranger to your struggles. He
knows your joys and sorrows. Because He has experienced every aspect of
being human, he has a clue about you and your needs. When we come to
Him, He never says, “I don’t get it,” because He does get it.
He’s been there before! As the writer of Hebrews tells us: “We do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but
we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was
without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need” (Heb. 4:15-16).
As a boy, I would snoop under the Christmas tree ahead of time. I
could usually spot gifts for me by the designs on the paper. Those with
dolls and lace were certainly for my sisters. But I knew that the ones
wrapped in trains and planes most likely were for me!
One glance at the wrapping on God’s gift of Jesus reveals that this
gift was meant for you. The scars in His hands and feet reflect His
commitment to serve you and save you—all the way to the cross. As Paul
tells us in Philippians 2:7-8,
Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
As I think about the wrapping on Jesus, I’m reminded that all of us
are wrapped in some kind of paper. We spend most of our lives wrapping
and rewrapping ourselves in clothes, cars, houses, positions, social
networks, and other symbols we think will enhance our appearance.
If the wrapping we choose is made only of these earthbound things, we
miss something vital about the meaning of Christmas. If, as Paul
instructed, I am to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5),
it means that I too must wrap myself in the spirit of servanthood.
Those of us who have received God’s gift are called to recycle His
wrapping paper into our own lives by giving ourselves as a gift to
others just as He gave Himself as a gift to us.
I guess “save the paper!” is pretty good advice after all.
YOUR JOURNEY…
- Write down some of the ways that you have benefited from the servanthood of Christ.
- Do you know anyone who is “wrapped” in servanthood like Christ? How has their example influenced you?
- When it comes to Jesus, there is something terribly wrong with taking the gift and throwing the wrapping away. If you have received the gift of Jesus, in what ways can you display the “wrapping” of His servanthood to others today?
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