The Christmas season is upon us, and my family is starting a
new tradition this year of unwrapping a new Christmas book each day leading up
to Christmas. We owned several winter/Christmas themed books already, but we
needed to add to our collection, so I began searching for some old favorites. After
sharing some of these stories with my daughter, I realized that some of them
were fairly dark:
“The Small One” by Charles Tazewell, is about a donkey who
is too small and too old to do the heavy work required, and must be sold, but
nobody will buy this sorry creature except the tanner. Just when the young
owner has given up hope of saving his beloved donkey’s life, a man comes along.
He doesn’t have much money, but he has a pregnant wife, and a long journey ahead
of him to a little town called Bethlehem…
“A Tale of Three Trees” is a folk tale about one tree who
hopes to be made into a treasure chest, another who dreams of being a great
sailing ship for kings, and a third who longs to remain on the hilltop forever,
pointing proudly to the heavens. All three are cut down, and the first is
turned into a feedbox for animals, the second into a humble fishing boat, and
the third is hewn into rough beams and left in a lumber yard. Years pass as the
trees each mourn their dreams. But one day, the feedbox is surprised when it is
used to hold a baby, the fishing boat carries a man who can calm a storm, and
the third is made into a cross.
In “the Other Wise Man,” by Henry Van Dyke, Artaban plans to
join his fellow Magi to give gifts to a newborn king. On his way to meet his
companions, he is delayed when he stops to help a dying man on the road. When
he gets to Bethlehem, he is too late: the holy family has fled to Egypt. Herod’s
soldiers arrive to kill all the baby boys, and he saves a child by bribing the soldier
who comes for him. He spends the next 33 years searching to no avail, gradually
giving away all of the wealth he had brought for Jesus except for one pearl. He
finally arrives in Jerusalem only to discover that the King for whom he has
been searching is about to be crucified. As he rushes to see, he encounters a
girl who is to be sold into slavery to pay off her father’s debts. He buys her
freedom with his final treasure, just as Jesus dies on the cross. He is injured
during the earthquake, and is ushered into heaven with words from Matthew 25:40
“Inasmuch as you have done to the least of these, my brethren, you have done it
unto me.”
Why do I love these stories so much? These are tales of
broken dreams: A worthless donkey destined for the glue factory; Trees filled
with hopes for great purpose, being used in lowly, demeaning ways; A Magi who
spent his whole life searching for the King, but arrives empty-handed only to
find him dying.
But more than that, these are tales of redemption: The worthless
donkey carries Mary to Bethlehem and is present at the birth of the Christ
child. The manger tree holds the greatest treasure in the world, the fishing
boat tree carries the King of Kings, and the final tree stands high on its
hilltop, pointing the world to Heaven. Artaban’s life goal was to meet Jesus
and give him the finest gifts money could buy, and though he thought his mission
a failure, he learns in the end that every act of kindness, every generous gift
was given to God, and his faithful seeking came to an end when he met the King
face to face in His glorious kingdom.
These are not just stories, they are our stories. How many
of us feel, like the donkey, that we have nothing to offer anyone? How many of
us dreamed like the trees of a perfect job and grand life, only to find
ourselves working for low-wages outside our chosen field just to pay off our
student loans? How many of us feel like our whole life has been wasted on a
failed mission? We all need redemption.
The donkey wasn’t chosen because he was special, he became
special because he was chosen. The roughly hewn trees held no intrinsic beauty
or worth of their own, but they became timeless symbols of the greatest story
ever told because of who they held. Artaban spent his whole life hoping to pay
tribute to the new King, without realizing that he already was serving him
everywhere he went. Jesus made them beautiful. Jesus made them treasures. Jesus
fulfilled their dreams in ways they never could have guessed.
So friends, if you question your value, know that Christ has
deemed you precious enough to die for. If you feel unworthy, remember that Jesus has
offered himself to be judged in your place, so that when God looks at you, he
doesn’t see the crude vessel, he sees his perfect Son. If you feel lost and
searching, God will meet you where you are. “You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever
and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21
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