Christmas Spirit

“God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him”  I John 4:9

John knew how to capture the very essence of the Spirit of Christmas.

Words like spirit are very simple to say but a bit hard to define.

Cambridge dictionary offers several options, but even these are not definitive:

            n. A state of mind or attitude;

            n. Something that one can feel to be present but cannot see.

Don’t you hate it when the definitions are not very definitive? Seems to defeat the concept of defining, does it not?

No wonder Jesus said, “The wind (lit spirit) blows where it pleases and you hear its sound but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. That’s the way it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Jesus explains: I hear it but I can’t see it. I know something is there but I don’t know how it got there or where it will go. But it is real.

So. . .

Spirit is real; but we can’t see it.

Spirit is actual; but we can’t measure it.

Spirit is contagious; but we can’t bottle it.

“What gives, Dan? You mean Something is real but we can’t see or fully understand it?”

PRECISELY.

It’s that way about God and spiritual things. Just about the time we think we have God or spiritual things defined and nailed down, it appears God delights in flipping our understanding and supposed definitive ideas upside down.

God loves to show us we don’t know all we think we know. He is greater than our bandwidth of understanding or formulating. He has more depth and dimension than we have capacity.

God is God. I am not.

No wonder He instructs us: “Without faith it is impossible to please God for the one who comes to God must believe that He is real (exists) and that He rewards those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

He is MORE REAL than what we can see. All the stuff we see is aging and in some state of decay. HE is NOT. EVER.

And that is why we, you and me, need Christmas Spirit.

Christmas Spirit calls me to give to GOD—One I can’t see;

things I can see-like my time, my energy, my stuff;

to gain what I can’t see—eternal life, His power and rest, riches that last.

Christmas Spirit is a choice we make that says, “God, I choose to let You be real to me and make sure I know it.”  It blesses me as well as others.

Christmas Spirit will not slip up on you or happen to you. It’s a choice you make to open up to what is really real and to see what you can’t see.

Yet.

“Be it done for you according to your faith.”  Matthew 9:29

Good deeds are real good

“Let your light shine before people so they will see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

I’m not sure why, but it seems to me like good deeds sometimes get a bad rap from church leaders. . . even though they have done nothing to deserve it.

How could that happen? Likely it comes from a fear of giving the impression that good deeds somehow contribute to one’s salvation. But that need not be.

Good deeds are a really good thing. They are rooted in compassion.

No, they do not contribute to our salvation. Only the atoning death of Jesus on the Cross is sufficient to deal with sin. Good deeds can never atone for sin and they certainly can’t earn our salvation.

Jesus never taught that. Of all people, He was fully aware of the way forgiveness comes.

But Jesus said good words about good deeds. He taught they are a result of the grace of God in one’s life. They are motivated by compassion They point people to God as they reflect His goodness and grace through our lives.

Good deeds deliver a powerful and persuasive message. They project that God is not only righteous; He is good and compassionate.

Yes, good deeds are really good.

One of America’s Founding Fathers is noted for his wisdom and turn of phrase. Ben Franklin, a writer, printer and publisher, spoke and wrote wise words that shaped life in America. A case can be made for or against him being a man of Christian faith. But no case can be made against him being a man who saw the value of good deeds.

Note this excerpt from a letter he wrote to Joseph Huey on 6/6/1753.

“The Faith you mention has doubtless its use in the World. I do not desire to see it diminished, nor would I endeavour to lessen it in any Man. But I wish it were more productive of good Works, than I have generally seen it: I mean real good Works, Works of Kindness, Charity, Mercy, and Publick Spirit; not Holiday-keeping, Sermon-Reading or Hearing; performing Church Ceremonies, or making long Prayers, filled with Flatteries and Compliments, despis’d even by wise Men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity. The worship of God is a Duty; the hearing and reading of Sermons may be useful; but, if Men rest in Hearing and Praying, as too many do, it is as if a Tree should Value itself on being water’d and putting forth Leaves, tho’ it never produc’d any Fruit.”

Franklin saw with clarity the relationship of faith and good deeds/works. Good faith produces good deeds. Good deeds validate the believer’s faith but also the Christian faith to a skeptical world.

Yes, good deeds are real good.