So, I’m a parent, right?  And I LOVE my 4 and 2 year old kids.  And then my little sweet girl gets presents for Christmas from her grandparents.  And she opens that one gift.  And it’s not a toy, it’s tights.  And she throws the tights at Martha, who gave her the tights.  “I don’t like clothes!” my daughter yells.  “I don’t want clothes!”  And I ran away and never came back.  Who is this little Christmas monster filled to the brim with original sin, that I love so much?

John and Charles Wesley were in the “fear the rod, and cry softly” camp of child-rearing, and I’m just not that guy.  I know it’s impossible to reason with a four year old.  I am working with her to understand the importance of gratitude and mindfulness, and oh yeah, that Christmas is not her birthday.  But the truth is, my mom had these same conversations with me, when I was crying because I got clothes instead of toys for Christmas…as a teenager…

One cool Christmas gift from John Wesley is the questions for the Methodist small groups (called “Bands”) which he drew up one Christmas.  These questions helped people to live a more disciplined life.  It’s super easy to get lost in the discipline, to tell yourself that what actually matters is how good you are, how you keep all the rules.  But the reality of the gospel is that we live in the discipline of holiness not to impress God or others, but out of a spirit of gratitude for what God has given us.  When you ask, “How is it with your soul?” it’s not to prove to someone that you’ve got what it takes to be on the God Squad.  It’s because you realize that you really don’t got what it takes, and that God loves you no matter what, and so you want to be challenged to love God more.  God’s gift for us at Christmas is pure love, for who we are, even when we throw the tights and scream in God’s face, “That’s not what I wanted from You!” Thanks for loving me in all my sin, both original and extra crispy.