Seth Carter

Imagine this scenario: You are spending time with a friend catching up and they tell you this story.

“I got a phone call from this car dealership. They said I was supposed to come in and take possession of a vehicle. Apparently someone bought a car for me.” 

“That’s great!” you reply. “A used car or a new one?” 

Your friend excitedly says, “Well when I got there, it turned out be a 2023 Toyota Tacoma!”

“Wow!” you might say, with a glance to the driveway. “That’s amazing! So, where is it?”

“Oh, I didn’t accept it. I just couldn’t. I didn’t earn it or even deserve it, so I left the keys right there on the desk and drove home in my 1998 Ford Explorer.”

A mini-explosion happens in your brain as you comprehend the maniacal hesitancy of your friend.

What would you do if someone gave you a new truck? Not a new-to-you truck, but one fresh from the factory, never been used, with the original “new car smell” still intact. Would there be anything holding you back from picking up those keys and driving that new truck home? Of course not! It seems obvious that you would be able to receive this gift, right? 

Do you realize that God has given you something even more amazing than a new truck? Some of you are already thinking about all the possibilities of a 2023 Tacoma. It’s recognizable and tangible. 

Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on a gift simply because you didn’t recognize it?

Let’s go back to the story for a second. What if your friend said, “I didn’t want the truck because I’ve never heard of the brand Toyota.” Or, “It was not a color that I like.” Or, “What would I do with a truck?”

Boom, boom, boom, your head is exploding again. That would be a preposterous missed opportunity.

This Christmas, there is a far greater opportunity before you. God is offering to you himself. If you’ve read much of the Bible perhaps you’ve seen that it is a story about God pursuing us, coming closer and closer even when our sin separates us and keeps us from coming to him on our own. Eventually he came so close that he came in human form, to be in a form we could understand and ultimately to sacrifice his human life in our place, to be the redemption and reconciliation we need to come back into intimate fellowship with God.

The world is a dark place, blackened by greed, arrogance, violence and all manner of sin, and into this darkness God comes. The light and glory of God have come, just as was prophesied in Isaiah chapter 9: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.”

This season is not just about nice feelings. This is beyond platitudes like “Christmas is about giving.” Christmas is about Jesus! 

At Christmas we frequently give gifts because God gave generously, humbling himself to be born into humanity, and the most humble humanity at that. Born in a poor family in a poor community in a poor and oppressed nation and people, he came to pierce the darkness so that we could have a relationship with him and live with him in his kingdom forever. This is what Paul wrote to Titus:

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared he saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that being justified by his grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life,” Titus 3:4-7

The thing you need to hear, however, is that the Ford Explorer doesn’t work anymore. Christmas is about a gift, but it is also a rescue. Jesus himself said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life. If you do not believe … you will die in your sins.” (John 8:12, 24)

The opportunity isn’t just to receive something nice and feel better, it’s about being rescued from the darkness of eternity to walk in light. I pray that these thoughts will drive you to consider the reason that Christmas is a celebration!

(Seth Carter is director of Campus Ventures in Powell)