Unwrapping Power by Jason Edwards

… I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17b-19

When Christy was two years old, her dad (Ed)’s army assignment was to serve one year at the Osan Air Base in South Korea. Christy and Beth stayed behind. Imagine spending Christmas in South Korea apart from your spouse and toddler.

Ed made the best of this situation by contacting his parents in Mississippi and instructing them to buy, wrap, and send gifts to Beth and Christy in South Carolina. Once the gifts arrived, Beth placed them carefully under the tree. Ed and Beth were soon on the phone catching up, no doubt commiserating over their Christmas separation while also rejoicing in Ed’s ability to get Christmas goodies from him to them, continents apart, well before the days when Amazon could offer a helping hand.

Meanwhile, Christmas mischief was also afoot. Little Christy’s big curiosity got the best of her, something unnoticed until an exuberant “Look! Isn’t it pretty?!?!” rang out from the other room. In a matter of minutes, Christy had managed to unwrap every single Christmas gift. Surprise!

One thing I love about my in-laws is how they habitually respond in moments like this. What some might receive as disruption, disarray, or disappointment often only prompts their delight. They tell me this is one of their favorite family Christmas memories, and I believe them. Even now, as I imagine it, I can hear their shared laughter erasing the miles between them.

Our Advent theme this year is Unwrapping Christmas. I love this because it simply captures what Advent so often does. Unlike with little Christy, it happens not all at once. But slowly, over the course of the season, Advent strips the wrappings and trappings that conceal Christmas from us once again, so we might receive God’s ultimate gift once more and, perhaps, even more. Meaning, you will surely experience Jesus in ways you’ve come to expect this Advent. By Christmas’s arrival, though, I hope you’re also surprised at the new ways you’re able to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” (Eph. 3:18)

How will that happen? Not always in the ways you might expect. In fact, there will surely be moments that sneak up on you -surprising mischief from “the other room.” You may first receive it as anything but delight. But I do wonder what God might have for you in that. I wonder what Advent disruptions, when unwrapped, might also be pathways to Christmas delight?

JASON EDWARDS

SENIOR PASTOR