Partners of Christmas

The mythical side of Christmas sees Santa working from the North Pole with a team of elves who are assistants to the Big Red Guy. Santa’s helpers are tasked with making the toys for all the girls and boys. They maintain the reindeer barn making sure the team is adequately fed and healthy. Santa’s elf friends also keep the sleigh in top running condition for the Christmas eve delivery deadline. All this preparation is a daunting task! It is a bigger job than what Old Saint Nick can accomplish on his own!

Eloise and Charlotte Having Fun!

Santa’s helpers are a common moniker for each of these partners! There are many “Santa Partners” scattered throughout malls, department stores and community events this season. They are engaging eager recipients of Christmas giving. While these children excitedly whisper their list of Christmas wishes, the Department of Christmas Affairs conducts its Global Behavior Tracking Network to determine who has been “naughty or nice!” Naughty and Nice List

Christmas is a time of fantasy and delight for children and adults, but it has a much more serious side! And surprisingly, partners played a strategic role in the biblical story of Advent! Hundreds of years before Christ’s birth, prophet partners were proclaiming that “God with us” was on the way! Mary and Joseph were Jesus’ parent partners in the greatest story ever told. Shepherds and heavenly messengers told everyone about “the Savior born for you!” Even a Roman Caesar, though became an unwitting partner, and “declared a decree” that would bring everyone together.

There is no greater Partner in this story than the Son of God Himself! Paul preached the details in a poem that would become a favorite worship hymn in the Early Church. “Christ was truly God. But He did not try to remain equal with God. Instead, He gave up everything and became a slave, when He became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored His name above all others.” (Philippians 2:6-9, Contemporary English Version).

One of the most intriguing words in the New Testament is koinonia. It is used twenty-two times in multifaceted ways. It is often translated sharing, communion, fellowship, or partnership, and means to “hold something in common.” This partnership of mutual cooperation is woven into the Christmas story! It is expressed in worship, “Glory to God in the highest!” It is seen in every participant partner who chooses to work with God. And it is wonderfully fulfilled as God’s will is accomplished in the Incarnation through “the Word made flesh, and (who) dwelt among us… the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth!” (John 1:14).

I recently appreciated the prayerful sentiments of Sheridan Voysey, a popular writer for the Our Daily Bread devotional series. With his signature Australian accent, Voysey engaged all of us prayer partners who were listening to the audio version that day. In an upbeat spirit of gratitude, Voysey simply closed his prayer with a surprising affirmation, “And thanks Lord, for letting us in on all the fun!”

Let’s continue to be joyful partners in all that God is doing in this Christmas season!

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com
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