God's better gift

by Robert Mohns

November was always a month of anticipation for us Mohns kids, because the Christmas catalogues from the department stores would reach our doorstep. We would eagerly flip through the pages in anticipation of what Christmas gift might be placed under the tree for us this year. Each of us had our own wishes, of course. So, we would dog-ear pages of the catalogue, hoping our parents might pay attention to those particular pages. Sometimes we were so daring that we would even tear out the page, put a big circle around a particular item, and strategically place the page in a place where our parents might take note of it.

Under the tree, our wise and kind parents would provide a gift. It was usually not the gift we thought we wanted or needed; it was usually something far better!

Anticipation, hope, looking forward... the season we are in is pregnant with such ideas. What are you anticipating? What is your hope? What are you looking forward to?

In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, that great chapter of the gift of faith received and lived, consider these words spoken of Abraham:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heir with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. | Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham’s life was about to be turned upside down, but he obeyed God. He heard God’s Word and he believed His word of promise, even though he didn’t know how to get to the place God wanted him to go. He wouldn’t have recognized the promised land if it were staring him in the face, but God gifted him with a faith not of his own making.

Abraham’s pilgrimage was no perfect journey. There were lots of twists and turns, failures and sins on Abraham’s part. But God still led this sinner-saint. God did not promise him an easy journey; Abraham didn’t have a home to sleep in, just a shared pilgrim’s tent. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham by providing him with the temporal reward of land— now no longer just a place but a promised land.

The writer makes it quite clear however that Abraham’s focus was not on these temporal things, as great a gift from God as they were. No, Abraham’s focus—his anticipation, his hope, what he was looking forward to—was something eternal. He was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God—in other words, eternal salvation.

Abraham didn’t know how to get there, but he believed God’s promise and it was counted to him as righteousness. Not a righteousness stemming from his own beliefs but instead God’s righteousness, given to him and lived out by him through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.

In fulfillment of that promise, God sent His only Son into the world. Jesus knew no earthly shelter, established no earthly kingdom. He came in fulfillment of the promise once delivered to Abraham and which lives in the hearts and minds of all believers since.

I don’t know about you, but the world I live in seems turned upside down. It is fraught with dangers and unforeseen twists and turns. Temptations and distractions abound.

I often find myself shrugging my shoulders, thinking that I don’t even know what to think, let alone what to do. The things and people I once depended upon to guide me are gone. At times I find myself desperately hopeless, despondent, and alone. I want God to give me a road map so that I can get myself to the place He wants me to be—or better yet, the GPS coordinates to the city of God and a Google avatar to walk us there!

But our dear kind, wise, heavenly Father knows best. He gives us something better.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. | Revelation 21:1-3

Better than the road map we hope for, our Father gives us the gift of salvation itself! He does not give us a Google avatar to tell us which way to go. He gives us Jesus, whose nativity we observe and whose abiding presence comforts and protects us through the worst of life’s storms.

He gives us the gift of His own voice, spoken by His mouthpiece, the pastor, forgiving our sin and enlightening our way. He gives us the gift of Himself poured down our throat in His Holy Supper. He gives us the blessed company of His saints, His holy ones, for this life’s pilgrimage. He gives faith and lively hope as we wait on Him to deliver us into His eternal city.

With Abraham, and the prophets, the apostles, and all the faithful, we too are looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. God grant us such a gift of faith and lively hope as sustained Abraham. O come, o come, Immanuel!

O God, You made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light. Grant that as we have known the mysteries of that Light on earth, we may also come to the fullness of His joys in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son our Lord. Amen.

Rev. Marvin Bublitz is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)'s East Regional Pastor.