As I write this, Vivian is going through the cabinets
to pull out our Christmas decorations. Two days from now is the first Sunday
of Advent, and as is our custom, we have invited eight young people over to
help decorate our tree. Six were my students last
year; two are classmates studying Chinese with me, one from Thailand and one
from Vietnam. Several have said they are excited because they have never had
the chance to decorate a Christmas tree before.
That phrase, “excited because they have never had the
chance,” strikes me. Not only does it show how much we take our rich
Christmas traditions for granted, but it also reminds me that Christmas is
about newness and excitement.
A week ago, a Dachshund-Beagle-Basset puppy
joined our family. Andrew named her Gimli. During the world’s first
Christmas, the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth included long
journeys, suspicious relatives, “no room at the inn,” and the wrath of a
jealous king. The circumstances surrounding our “new addition” were also
less than perfect, but once the puppy was in our arms, a sense of excitement
overwhelmed each of us. On the ride home, I think Andrew put it best when he
said something like: “This is an experience I’ve thought about, but never
expected I’d get to have.”
The gift of this puppy made it feel like Christmas, and
our excitement made me wonder how the Heavenly Father feels every time
someone new enters His family. The Bible says He rejoices like a shepherd who
has just recovered a lost lamb, or like a woman who has just found a lot of
money that she had somehow lost. The same passage says that when someone
realizes he/she is not perfect, and turns from a self-centered life to
follow The Way, there is great joy in heaven. To us, it’s like being “born”
again, so to the Father it must be as exciting as seeing a child born into
your family. (Luke 15:4-10; John 3:3.) That thought took on new meaning the
first time we brought Gimli home; joy flooded our taxi and I thought “it
must be like Christmas every day in heaven.”
It is amazing that someone who is perfect and who has
everything He could ever want or need would get excited over us! Like
newborn babes, or worm-filled puppies, we have very little to offer in
return. Imperfect people are messy; after they are born again their hearts
need to be “de-wormed” and their habits need to change. Gimli had to learn
that the stuff she had been standing in is dirty and unhealthy; new
believers have to learn that many of the things they enjoy (like certain
movies and songs, excessive drinking, and sleeping with someone you’re not
married to) are also dirty and unhealthy in Heaven’s eyes. Gimli had to get
used to new surroundings, a new bed, a new language, new faces, new
rules—I’m sure it is overwhelming for a puppy. Likewise, tremendous
challenges face those who are saved from a secular western culture, from a
false religion, or from no faith in anything but themselves.
I have no idea what it was like in Gimli’s cage before
we met her, and it is sometimes just as difficult to imagine what new
believers face when they enter the Father’s family. But the Father knows how
much such people must face. He knows how difficult the transition will be.
And He rejoices over the possibilities with unspeakable joy.
Those first few nights, as Gimli howled and cried for
the cage and filth she was used to, I wanted to say: “Don’t you know how
lucky you are? Your brothers and sisters are still freezing on metal bars,
while you have a panda-shaped hot water bottle to rest on. The dogs that
used to surround you will still have worms and maybe something worse a year
from now, but you will get healthy food and first class medical attention.
Your old owner lied about your age and heritage just to get rid of you (for
money, no less), but now there are three people who already love you and
want you to be healthy and happy. Don’t you understand that you have been
set free? This small fence is not a jail; it is here to protect you from
stairs, wires, and all the things you might choke on. Stop shivering! Be
happy!”
Similarly, once the first glow of the Father’s
overpowering love becomes familiar, many believers tend to forget how
blessed and loved we are, too. Like the puppy, we also can find it hard to
understand that the bible’s rules are not a jail but a path to health and
freedom.
