Additional Christmas Reflections
1
In my Christmas letter, "Clueless in the Face of a Great Gift?", I shared an image of a page from The Psalter of St. Louis (image nearby) with the comment that Herod's response to Jesus, to attempt to kill him, was not the "appropriate" response to such a magnificent gift as the incarnation of the Son of God. This is a bit of an understatement, of course.
When Herod found that the magi had not returned to confirm for him the whereabouts of Jesus, he sent soldiers to kill all of the males in Bethlehem aged two and under (Matt. 2:16). Could there be a greater rejection of God's great gift than to seek to kill this boy, and indeed, to kill a whole lot of other boys at the same time?
Indeed, when women and men prepare to have their unborn children killed by abortion, they are sadly, in the same spirit as Herod, making the same great rejection of a great gift. And when we are silent about the horror of abortion, aren’t we also, in some sense, rejecting that great gift?
2
The challenge of giving any gift is how we will respond when it is rejected, misunderstood, or even maligned. For some of us, perhaps, there is a challenge in giving with a spirit of charity, a kind-hearted desire for the other person's good. I suspect, though, that the greater challenge for most of us is to choose a charitable attitude towards the person once the gift is received, but not as we intended. What will our attitude be if the point is missed, or if the gift is even detestable to the person? In my Christmas letter, I emphasized how patient God is with me when I fail to appreciate his gifts to me. I want to be like him and be patient with those who fail me to appreciate my gifts to them.
3
Any act of conversation about abortion includes the same challenge of “charity after the charity.” We set aside time to go talk to people. Perhaps you have set aside time to participate in a JFA event or to engage someone in conversation using our “Learn at Home” program. What’s perhaps hardest about those conversations, though, is getting them started when we know that those with whom we are speaking may not receive our gift of time, listening, well-chosen questions, and reasons to protect the unborn. We fear the gift will instead be rejected. So, should we simply not give the gift? Clearly not. The gift is worth giving because of the intrinsic value of both the gift and the recipient. Should we mock the person who rejects it? No. This rejection should cause us to be sad, and sad enough that we pray that God would change the heart.
Recent and Upcoming Events
- See the JFA Event Calendar for upcoming and recent events.
- See our October 2016 Ministry Notes, which gives a quick visual of our events in September and October. Although this is a fairly good snapshot of the busiest period in JFA's fall, it doesn't include our large exhibit outreach at the University of Oklahoma in November, as well as a number of other events in November and December. See those events here.
- See our Photos page for photos from our spring 2016 events (and previous).