the running reverend

Lately, I’ve been inundated with statements of what my children want for Christmas. Quinton’s three, which means that those statements vary daily, and sometimes from moment to moment. 

In similar fashion, I’ve found that I’ve been given all manner of suggestions as to what I might want for Christmas each time I tune into the radio or flip on the television for a brief bit of viewing.

Where am I going with this?

Is this going to be yet another diatribe about consumerism and its impact on society, religion, and our celebrations of Christmas?

Here’s where I am going with this… Last night, we had our semi-annual Clubhouse Celebration at church. Clubhouse is our mid-week children’s program and the “celebration” is a way for us to honor the kids for their accomplishments. Anyways, this year we’ve done away with the merit-badge system and have opted for other forms of incentive. The kids can earn tickets, on a weekly basis, for things such as: attendance, memorizing their Bible verse, helping their teacher, bringing a friend, participating in special activities, contributing to a service project, etc. If they complete a specified number of tasks in a given week they can earn tickets, which can be exchanged for prizes. Prizes come in two forms: small weekly awards (toys, coloring books, etc.) and “big prizes” (mp3 players, bikes, skateboard) that can be won at one of our two celebrations.

Many of the younger kids opt for the instant gratification afforded by the small weekly prizes. Whereas many of the older kids opt to stockpile their tickets in hopes of winning one of the “big prizes.”

Last evening, we gave away two mp3 players, a skateboard, and a bike. The majority of the prizes were given away as planned.

When we gave away the bike, however, things took a strange (and beautiful) twist. Kyler Sieber’s name was drawn and as he came forward to claim his prize, he asked for the microphone. Not sure what he was planning to do, I resisted. But, Kyler was persistent. There was something he had to do and it was clear that I was either going to be a willing or unwilling participant in what was about to play out. So, I handed Kyler the microphone. It was at that juncture that Kyler did something that blew my mind and warmed my heart… He took the bike that he won and he gave it to one of the younger boys.

It was a scene that beautifully encapsulated the generous, extravagant, and costly love that God has for us and that we should have one another… It wasn’t an adult, who was well-versed in theology and/or the Bible, that loved in this fashion. It was a child, a young man, who left many an all-knowing adult in tears, because he was able to love in a way and with a spirit of generosity that seems so foreign in a world in which we think we have to earn everything.

I’m proud of Kyler.

I’m grateful for the beautiful reminder that he provided to those who gathered in that sanctuary last evening.

And, I’m blessed to say that I am the proud recipient of a gracious gift that I never earned, but that God generously made available when He put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood.