Grown-up Christmas List -
Luke 4:18-19 - “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has
anointed me
to proclaim
good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of
sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
As one that is always looking for
the scriptural truth in unexpected places, I also have an affinity for many “secular”
Christmas songs. Today is one of
those. David Foster, the prolific
songwriter wrote today’s “Grown-up Christmas List” Linda Thompson-Jenner and
released it on his 1990 Christmas Album “River of Love.” Amy Grant covered it on her second Christmas
Album, “Home for Christmas” in 1992. She
composed and added a verse to the song and it was her version that became wildly
popular. Kelly Clarkson and a score of
other artists have kept new versions coming ever since.
The song
is written to Santa Claus, but I prefer to see it as a prayer to God. The heart of the song is the actual grown-up
Christmas list:
No more
lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end…
To me, the list seems uniquely akin to Jesus’s statement of
the purpose of His coming in Luke 4 above.
It’s instructive to remember that Jesus is literally reading Isaiah 61 when
utters these words in a synagogue in Nazareth, his hometown. He rolls up the scroll and then states, “today
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The message given to Isaiah hundreds of years
earlier is now becoming reality as Jesus begins to fulfill His mission. If you read the rest of Luke’s gospel, you
can see that Jesus goes about helping the poor experience good news that they’ve
waited for all their lives. He sees the
afflicted and oppressed free. He gives
sight to the blind, heals the sick and proclaims the favor of God to people who
never expected such a blessing.
To put
it another way, he goes about fulfilling the aforementioned grown-up Christmas
list. Beyond that, he creates a
community that he charges with continuing that work with the anointing of God’s
spirit and the backing of God’s power. You
and I are charged with binding up the wounds of those whose lives have been torn
apart. We are called to be the peacemakers
that keep conflicts from escalating into wars.
We are called to aid in God’s healing processes for those who have
wounded by disease, violence, and cruelty.
We are the friends to the friendless.
We are champions of what’s right when all those around us seem swept away
by what’s wrong. All of that is
summarized by the last item on the list – we are the people who NEVER STOP
LOVING!
It can
tempting to give on this list at times.
It seems like a silly pipedream most of the time. But so did the idea that God would become a
helpless baby. Christmas reminds us that
we are the community of the impossible. We
are those who claim that Jesus is Emmanuel – that in our striving for God’s
kingdom, God is WITH US!
Question: What is one
tangible thing you can do today to keep yourself committed to loving the world
even when it might seem like a drop in the bucket?
Prayer: God, you are
the fulfillment of the most grown-up of Christmas lists; we believe that. Help us in our unbelief. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for those whose lives have been torn apart this year.
Song: Grown Up
Christmas List – Amy Grant
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