It’s the day after Christmas. All the presents are opened. Discarded boxes, bows and wrappers are bagged and waiting for the trash man to pick them up. The family has come and gone. We all had plenty to eat. They are now standing in line at the local big box store to get a deal at the after-Christmas sale or returning that which did not fit. So much activity goes into this season, it is hard to sometimes really sit down and contemplate what it all really means. And what exactly does it mean? Is it just about satisfying our material wants for a day before we follow the pack back into a crowded retail store for the next big sale? We have been shopping for everything we want to include in this season ever since the Thanksgiving Day sales – maybe even before then this year. There have been cyber deals, holiday performances, light shows and classic TV specials. There is music we only listen to during this time of the year. We wrap so much into Christmas – what are we really taking away from this special holiday?

Here are my thoughts. At the heart of the matter, I think Christmas is about the few things that truly last in life. I suppose it is because I have reached an age in life where I have seen plenty of things that I thought would last my lifetime that did not. I have come to realize that very few things in life are permanent. Most of them are temporary. Many of my mentors have grown old and some of them have died. They were leaders I once leaned upon for advice. That was a temporary situation. My kids are not young children any longer. They grow up into adults and make their own decisions. Childhood is a temporary gig. Jobs and careers are not permanent. They begin and they come to an end. Where you live will someday change and someone else will live in your space, sleep in your bedroom and spill food on your kitchen floor. And what about the stuff you unwrapped yesterday? Will it bring you joy and happiness for the rest of your life? It also is temporary. By this time next year, will you even remember what was wrapped up under the tree? So that feeling you got when you unwrapped it is also a fleeting feeling, it is not sticking around for very long.

So what is permanent in life? I have heard it said that when all the temporary stuff is stripped away, we are left with three permanents in life: Faith, Hope and Love. If you dig below all the crinkled paper, underneath the tree needles, the glow of the lights and cookie crumbs, you will find these three in the roots of the Christmas story that became our tradition. Take a moment and examine this with me.

Why do we give gifts at Christmas? At the heart of it is the concept of Faith – believing in something even though you have not fully seen it for yourself. It begins with the gift of the Magi – the Wisemen who were following a star, convinced they were going to find a newborn king in Israel. Scholars have said these Magi likely traveled from ancient Persia (modern day Iran) to Bethlehem based upon their reading of a 500 year old scripture (the book of Daniel) and the appearing of a star. Based on that, they had enough faith to travel over 750 miles to seek out this new king and to bring costly gifts to present before him. It is said when they found the child, they bowed down and worshiped him and presented him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Faith is one of those lasting attributes that doesn’t fade away. If you have faith this day after Christmas, you have something truly special.

Hope is also at the root of Christmas. Hope is that wonderful quality of believing that there is something better beyond your present circumstances, particularly when circumstances are not good. At the top of our Christmas tree is an angel. I am reminded of the first Christmas when an angel made three appearances, first to an old man named Zechariah whose wife was infertile, to give him a message of hope – your wife will have a baby boy. He gave a childless couple the hope that this son would be the forerunner of the Christ child – that their lives would give hope to all people. That angel appeared again to Mary, the mother of Christ, to announce she, too, would bear a baby boy that would change people from the inside out. The third appearance came to a group of shepherds. This time, when the angel appeared to bring the message of hope – that the baby who would be the savior of the world was born – he brought a host of angels. Unlike the cutesy cherub images we have of angels, ancient scripture describe them looking like warriors; massive and glowing like bronze in a furnace. Anyone coming into contact with an angel was always terrified at the site of them. So it was with these shepherds in the middle of the night. The angel appeared, the glory of God shone about them, and they were terrified. The message that the angel spoke was one of hope, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

Hope is often confused with optimism. They are not quite the same. Optimism is a wonderful quality, but can run counter to reality when we refuse to take stock of the true situation we find ourselves in. Hope understands the present situation, but believes that the current situation is temporary and there is something better beyond bad times – something permanent that chases away your worst fears. If you have hope, you have a wonderful treasure that transcends your current trappings.

Love is also at the heart of the first Christmas. It is scattered throughout the story of Christmas. The crux of love was the real reason the Christ child was born. It is said that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son… Why did this need to happen? Simply because people were in trouble and needed an intervention from God. At this point in history, tyranny reigned. He who was the strongest subjected those who were weak under his heal. It is not much different today. A crazy man reigned in the land of Israel. His one intent was to maintain his power and put down anyone who would threaten it, including his own family. He had a wife and three sons put to death for fear they would try to take over his throne. He had baby boys murdered in Bethlehem on the same threat. On a larger scale, the emperor of Rome was proclaiming himself to be a god and deciding who would live and who would die, who would move ahead and who would succumb to the end of line. There was no love in their actions. It was much different with the action of God, who decided to give a gift of love with the birth of Christ to be the savior of the world. This is also at the root of our gift giving at Christmas. It is not about the newest toy sensation or the hot-selling electronic game. It is about sharing from your heart to people whom you love. If you came away from Christmas with a gift of love, you have something that will not wear out.