At times we are tempted to think of God as unconcerned for us, who is indifferent to our fate, who just doesn’t care. Such a God is irrelevant to our needs. And since he seems irrelevant, we lose interest in him, for it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether we believe in him. Such a view of God is far from the face of God Jesus reveals to us.

John tells us that the Word, who was with God and was God, who was with God in the beginning, through whom all things were made; and without whom nothing was made that has been made; the Word who is the expression of God, in whom was the essence of life, and whose life was the light of humanity; this Divine Discourse communicated to this planet in time, the face of God.

Many people did not recognize this communication. Many people were offended by this communication. Many people rejected this presentation of God. Their understanding of God was very different from that which Jesus incarnated. Why was this? Because Jesus revealed that God was full of grace.

People could receive God as lawgiver, as judge, jury and executioner, but they could not receive God’s glory as grace. Yet those who see the face of God as grace receive one blessing after another.

John reminds us that “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (1:17) Grace means that God is for us and not against us. Grace tells us that God is pure gift, undeserved gift, poured out blessing, the showering of extravagant mercy on the poor in spirit, those who are humble enough to receive the gifts of God.

What are those gifts that grace distributes so lavishly? Jesus demonstrates it in his person. In his first miraculous sign he changed water into wine at a wedding, and thus revealed his glory. He reveals to us a God whose grace will not run out, who wants us to rejoice at his desire to be united to us in a new life.

He feeds the five thousand with five small barley loaves and two small fish. He reveals a God who multiplies meager resources to care for the multitude and sustain them on their journey.

He heals the man born blind, and a man who was an invalid for thirty-eight years. He reveals a God who gives us the ability to see the truth, and to walk towards the fulfillment of our lives.

He raises Lazarus from the dead and proves that the gift of resurrection is real. He reveals to us a God who has an eternal purpose for our lives beyond this one.

He washes the disciples’ feet and assures others that their sins are forgiven. He reveals a God whose grace extends to the purification of our hearts.

He gives us the presence of his Spirit to help us, to strengthen us, to guide us, to grow in us the fruit of his indwelling. He reveals to us a God who is with us at all times, and is not distant from us.

He cleanses lepers and enables them to rejoin society. He reveals to us a God who takes away our uncleanness and alienation.

He calms the storm on the lake, when the waves sweep over the boat, revealing to us a God who will take care of us in all circumstances. He demonstrates to us that we need not fear what life can do to us.

He heals the paralytic by forgiving his sins, and raising him from his bed. He gives us the ability to leave the guilt of the past behind and start again. He reveals to us a God who gives us the key to move forward in life and not be chained by our memories.

He takes up the little children in his arms and blesses them, and tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. He reveals to us a God who treasures the littlest and the least, the most vulnerable and the powerless.

He is prepared to accept the intense suffering of betrayal, and the cruelty of the Cross. The face of God is revealed as being scarred, and persecuted, enduring pain. His gift to us is the knowledge that God suffers with us and in us, and is not immune to human pain. Far from being indifferent to us, God is there with us in Christ, in the most difficult of situations. His gift is that he bears our sins, the sins of the whole world, all the wrong that was ever done, all the neglect that was ever perpetrated, all the crimes against humanity, and absorbs it into his person so that reconciliation may be achieved.

His gift to us is that we are able to be restored to favor. As we believe in who he is: the name, the nature, the character, of God; as we receive him into the center of our wills, our consciousness, and our emotions, we are made into the children of God, not natural born, not born of human descent, physically, by virtue of our parents, but born of God. He wants to bless us out of the fullness of his grace, one blessing after another.

It is hard for us to believe in a God like this. Our sinful, self-deserving nature wants a God who rewards us according to what we have done. We want to be affirmed for our good works, for all that we have tried to do. But instead, the Word who became flesh, reveals to us a God of grace, who gives his blessings to the undeserving, so we have to admit that we are undeserving in order to benefit from his grace.

Christmas is the celebration of the revealing of God as grace, as free gift to the undeserving. All the gift giving and receiving comes from the awareness that God has richly blessed us and wants us to be a blessing to others. We are saved through the grace of God which we receive by faith. We reflect this giving face of God in our giving to one another. What God is to us, we are to one another. The Word who became flesh lives within us by his Spirit if we receive him and believe in his name. What we have received from him, we give out to others. From the fullness of his grace we seek to become a blessing to others. As God has showered us with his blessing, we shower others with what blessings we can share.

The face of God revealed in Christ is unselfish grace. God is seen to be extravagant in the showering of his blessings. So the uniqueness and the importance of the celebration of Christmas becomes obvious to us. This is a God who wants us to have all good things.

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” (Job 41:11)
“For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

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