As I stared at my Christmas tree with all its memories on strings and wrapped boxes underneath, I started to think of the ultimate gift given: a small baby who fulfilled prophecies given hundreds of years before as well as a heavenly purpose of redemption. And in my mind, I quietly said: "thank you, God."
Immediately, my heart sunk and my posture became rigid - not because of what I was thankful for, but the tone I heard in my thanks. You know that tone we use as children when dutifully thanking someone after being prompted by our parents, or even when you thank someone for opening a door for you? That was my tone...to the God of the Universe...for the gift of salvation!
Needless to say, that was not the proper tone. The proper tone for something like that would come with gravitas, weight, depth, some type of change in you. Not the same tone used to thank your local grocery store clerk for ringing you up and handing you the receipt.
What is wrong with us (and by us, I mean me)! The tone comes from our posture of mind and heart so where is the disconnect? Does it come from desensitization of what this baby in a manger means; how it begins our redemption story? Does it come from a crowding of our hearts (and again, by "our" I mean "my")?
I mean, this is it! After months of angel-infused dreams and fear not's, the baby is here. How many prophecies this one child fulfilled! How much hope was carried in that first wail as He took earthly air into His lungs for the first time. It would take years for anyone to be thankful for that birth besides his parents and a gaggle of shepherds. Even they could not fully appreciate all that they would be thankful for until many dark days had passed and His death had accomplished His mission on earth.
We know the end, or I should say the real beginning of the redemption story. We have more to be thankful for then even those awe-struck, worshipping shepherds. They were thankful for a birth. We are thankful for a death and resurrection. That kind of thankfulness is breath-taking and vulnerable, but it comes when we (and I mean I) think about the entire story; from birth to death to life again. That kind of thankfulness is improper in a grocery line or a gift exchange, but it is perfect when thanking the God of the Universe for sending His Son to earth to breathe our air, feel our pain, and take our sins.
It's that kind of thankfulness that calls for a life to change, knees to bend, and hearts to rend. May we (and I mean I) live out our thanks with a tone that matches the Gift given this Christmas season.
