“…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)
There is no greater source of peace and joy for us at Christmas (Luke 2:10,14) than to cultivate a Christmas heart. To experience this, Paul invites us to “set our hearts on things above” (Colossians 3:1), where Jesus is with the Father, thinking about us. He is praying for us (Romans 8:34), and His love for us is SO STRONG that “nothing else in all creation is able to separate us from it” (Romans 8:39). We are invited to experience, to “feel” this love. “With all the saints, God wants to be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus and TO KNOW this love that “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19).
The peace and joy of Jesus at Christmas can be so deeply satisfying to our inner spirit. It calls us to move from being pre-occupied with the “many things” that easily distract us, to “the one thing that is best” (Luke 10:41-42). Jesus wants us to relocate our attention, to shift our focus and redirect our priorities. When we worry, when our lives are not joyful and peaceful, it is usually because our hearts are focused on the wrong things. Cultivating a “Christmas heart” is an invitation to set our hearts on the “spiritual.” We are invited to make our thoughts conscious of the Holy Spirit who is ALREADY within us (John 14:17). He knows us – he lives in us. We can ask him to be the center of all that we think, speak and do and he has promised to help us.
This is what it means to be “Christ-like” – to develop as a “Christ-like disciple.” This is the mission of the church, “to make Christ-like disciples.” This is the simple pattern we find in the ministry of Jesus. When he first discovers who his Father is, he wants to “be in his Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). He doesn’t want to do anything by himself; he only wants to do what he sees his Father doing (John 5:29). He doesn’t want to speak on his own or act on his own. He says, “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 14:10).
Jesus was always cultivating a heart of obedience to the Father. He was fearless in listening to a Father who loved Him. This same Father and this same Jesus THIS Christmas, wants to love us! He wants to come and make his home with us (John 14:23). Joy of all joys – peace that is so much beyond this world! For us to experience fully his peace and joy, we are invited to cultivate a Christmas heart – the heart of Jesus – for the Father. Between Jesus and the Father there is only love. Everything that the Father has is given to the Son (Luke 10:22). This love the Father has for Jesus – has been extended to us! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are” (1 John 3:1).
So, as we approach one of the greatest days of the year, we invite you to cultivate a Christmas heart. Feel the love the Father and the Son have for you. We hope you enjoy time with your family. Thank you for serving so well on the Chicago Central District. Merry Christmas! You are loved.
Larry McKain, Superintendent
Chicago Central District
Church of the Nazarene