Making a Memorable Christmas

Last night we had a really informal night at church where we sang a lot of carols both sacred and secular and told stories and had a great time being an extended family to one another. During the course of the evening different ones told tales of their favorite Christmas memories. Our pastor, Scott, posed the question of what God's favorite Christmas memory would be. He of course gave promise of a sermon to come with many Biblical references. I, being not so theologically inclined or intellectually minded have my own thoughts on the subject. I am of the opinion that God generally is good with anytime that we his children come together in his name. I also think that he loves seeing his children love one another even when loving one another is the most difficult thing to do. With these things in mind I suppose that God's favorite Christmas memories are much like ours. The times when we are together with friends or family and they fill your heart with such joy you think you will burst from trying to hold it all. The times when the Christmas spirit feels a million miles away and someone brings you a miracle that is particularly personal and specific to you and where you are. Even more amazing when that person is clueless that they are the deliverer of the miracle that you and you alone needed. I figure, God doesn't get much pleasure out of midnight door-busters at the mall in order to fight over a vacuum cleaner that you must have to wrap up for someone who could frankly care less about a vacuum cleaner and won't appreciate it anyway. He probably doesn't gain a great deal of joy out of his children going into ridiculous amounts of debt to give others unneeded gifts all in the name of Christ's birth. God's ultimate Christmas gift to us wasn't really about frivolous wants like my wish list is full of. His gift was about a need. A need to save all of mankind and about loving people so much that you would give what is most costly to fulfill that need, even at the cost of one's own son. I'm not God and my capacity to love and give is so minuscule in comparison, but I want to strive this year to make it a Christmas that God would want to remember by keeping His example fresh in my mind.