Pastoral Ponderings—It’s a Wrap
I’ve been spending a little time getting into trouble with Christmas wrap lately. Apparently I used the wrong paper—”Don’t you remember STEVE is the one who collects Santas, so wrap his in the Santa paper, and make sure you only use the Lion King paper on Ginny and Kristopher’s…” This is the real test if she’ll read my ponderings this time—I think I used the last of the Lion King paper on somebody else’s—but don’t tell her!
But does the packaging REALLY matter? I wonder sometimes at the sizes of the boxes for some things that seem really much larger than needed—unless it’s the kind of package that you’re supposed to put the thing back in for when you’re not using it—then the package is almost always too small! But packaging must be important—it is said to be a 900 BBBillion dollar industry each year (that’s a B, not an M!). Not to mention the fact that GOD thought packaging was so important, that He packaged up His love and salvation in His only Son!
Granted, the Christmas gifts I’m wrapping aren’t nearly as important as God’s Christmas gift, but they are intended to help convey the message of the importance of giving. And it is true that some of our younger friends in particular seem to have more fun with the wrapping than the gift inside—how many boxes have we seen over the years being turned into the greatest of playthings?
We, too, as followers of Jesus, are also the packages for bearing the gift of Jesus to others. It’s especially important this time of year, when nerves can get frayed, that the packages we present through ourselves, do a good job of carrying the Gift of Jesus to others we run across (NOT “run over”!) as we go about the season. You don’t have to have a bow on your head as you carry Jesus around this season, but do make sure no one can mistake you (or the Jesus you carry) for the Grinch!
So do how much do my wrapping efforts and faux pas really matter? I hope the gift of Jesus can at least survive the wrong wrapping paper! And whatever happened to “it’s the thought that counts?
Ever the Christ bearer—Rev. Jim