Christmas 1

Preparation

    Please begin by reading 1 Colossians 3:12-17 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Chosen!
   
    When you were celebrating Christmas this year, did you claim the very best gift of all? Did you know, really know, that you were one of the reasons for what happened in Bethlehem at Christmas centuries ago; one of the reasons that God chose to break through into history and live among us?

    Do you know, really know, yourself as one of God's chosen ones, holy and beloved? Did you know, deep inside, that Jesus' was born so that you could know that you were the beloved? This was, and is, God's most wondrous Christmas gift. Cherish this gift! Hold on to it, for the world is full of voices that lift the lie that you are not the beloved.

    In his "Life of the Beloved," Henri J. M. Nouwen observes that "self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that call us the 'Beloved.' Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence."

    Accepting God's gift of being one of God's chosen has the most important consequences imaginable. It is the beginning of the road to wholeness. Nouwen is also right at the heart of things when he says that "the great spiritual call of the Beloved Children of God is to pull their brokenness away from the shadow of the curse and put it under the light of the blessing." He uncovers the deepest motivations of those who tell us that we are not God's chosen beloved. "Our world finds it easier to manipulate self-rejecting people than self-accepting people."

    There are consequences for others too. When we know that we are God's chosen and beloved, we can begin to see other people in the same light. It is the knowledge of our own chosenness that allows us to see others as God's beloved and treat them accordingly. This is why Paul's admonitions about how to treat others flow so naturally out of his observation that we are chosen and beloved. Treating each other with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love is the natural consequence of seeing ourselves and others as God sees us. Suddenly others can no longer be seen as objects to be manipulated and used when the scales fall from our eyes and we see our, and their, chosenness.

    While Christmas is now a few days past, it is not too late to claim your gift. Know yourself and others as holy, chosen, and beloved.

revclay

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1 Colossians 3:12-17
   
    As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

    And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.