What’s on your Christmas list isn’t found under your tree.

Last year after searching out a new way to handle our Christmas shopping for our extended family, our son suggested a new app, called “Giftster” which allows a family like ours to get everyone’s gift wishes for Christmas and birthdays all on the same page. We can see what each member of our family has posted on their list, where to find it, how much it costs, and even a picture of what it is supposed to look like.  So, I can see that Daniel is looking for shoes, Mickie for exercise gear, and that Josh wants more Levis. What Deb wants? Not enough space here… 🙂 

But this year, as we exit the voting booth, fearing for our future, our lives, our security, and our money, it occurs to me there may be more important asks on our list that just didn’t show up on giftster.  Maybe once again, the Old Testament book of Genesis has something to say about the painful realities of our modern world.

One only has to travel down the road in Abraham’s sandals to realize that his gift list was punctuated by hopes that might not seem that strange to us either.

1. First of all, I think Abraham desperately wanted a family. Its clear his attempts to secure in his own strength what God had promised in faith, while shortsighted and lacking faith, does not diminish the priority he placed upon possessing a son of the covenant. There are more than a few people I know and love who have cried out to God for someone to love, and a precious life to nurture into adulthood. Anyone who knows me even casually knows the value I place on our family, and the lengths I will go to promote it and protect it. 
2. But more than that, I think Abraham wanted a relationship with God. I maybe going out on a limb here, but I think most people do. They want to approach Him on their own terms, may have the sequence of sin, savior, and salvation out of place, but you catch them at times using very relational terms– “I’m very thankful, they’ll say,” I had a conversation with the man upstairs,” or “I’m blessed”. Without reading too much into any of these, I’ll argue that in the absence of a real relationship with Christ, many choose to check the “like” box on facebook when something Spiritual is posted. Is that coincidence or some deeper longing for connection with God? I think Abraham, as much as he wanted a family, wanted a relationship with God more deeply. 
3. Thirdly, I observe that Abraham desired a place to call his own. It may be why home ownership is still desirable. Even in the midst of all that wandering, when it came time to bury his wife, he was willing to pull out the checkbook and write out the 400 shekel payment for a plot to bury his beloved Sarah. As it turns out, it was the family plot for Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. When my parents died several years ago, we buried them within two miles of my then home, because as my son noted, that’s where our family had made their impact on the earth- that was our place of meaning.
4. And finally, I think people of all types, backgrounds, and incomes desire a legacy. Presidents want to be remembered for the impact they left upon the country, entrepreneurs, for the advancement they left to the economic landscape, and even Christian leaders for the ministries they have sacrificed to launch. And yes, even Abraham, in sending out his servant, sought not just any wife for his son Isaac, but someone from their own people who could with Isaac carry on the legacy that would ultimately bring Jesus to a manger and then a cross. 

Why should you care? 

 Because for all the lists and suggestions we might offer at Christmas, there are very few wishes that matter more than family, God, Home, and hope. Here’s to my hope that you will choose wisely when making out your list. 

MJC