Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to You!

"... to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah." (Luke 2:11)

We were all gathered around the breakfast table to have our Christmas feast of stollen bread and sausage before we went to church. Mike, who was four, leaned on one elbow and looked at me with a puzzled frown. "Mom, if it’s Jesus’ birthday, how come we get presents and he doesn’t?"

I tried to explain that when we gave at church, we gave Jesus our love and the offerings, but Mike was still dubious.

"We always get a birthday cake, Mom. Couldn’t we at least have a birthday cake for Jesus?"

So that is how we came to have candles on the Christmas stollen from then on — at least until the children became big enough to think it might be "dumb."

I don’t think a Christmas has come in the many years since that morning that I haven’t thought about Mike’s question: "If it’s Jesus’ birthday, how come we get presents and he doesn’t?" He put his finger right on the problem of how we celebrate the Savior’s birth. Jesus did all the giving — and still does. I told Mike we gave him our love. Yet too often he gets only a small fraction of it. Why? I don’t know. I do know that the more love I give him and others, the more I have left over. And since our love is an expression of God’s love, there is always enough to go around.

Beyond the Door
1. We’re never too old to sing "Happy birthday, dear Jesus!" How about planning for a birthday cake with candles as a part of your next Christmas celebration — even if (maybe especially if?) there are no children in the house? Perhaps it can help remind you of your childlike faith, the kind Jesus found so endearing in Matthew 18 (see verse 3).

2. Ways abound to celebrate Christmas more simply. Secure the booklet (updated annually) "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" available from Alternatives for Simple Living, P.O. Box 2787, Sioux City, Iowa 51106, or call 1-800-821-6153, or check out their Web site: www.simpleliving.org

3. Women of the ELCA supports a number of ministries for which you could consider a special gift — at Christmastime, Thankoffering time, or any time as a way of giving a present to Jesus. Call 800-638-3522, ext. 2730, to learn more about these opportunities.

4. Women of the ELCA has a scholarship program for women who are taking a new direction in their lives. Contact Women of the ELCA, Scholarship Program Director, for information on how you can contribute and help change a life.

5. The author says that there’s always enough of God’s love to go around. What examples in your life, or the lives of others, prove the truth of that statement?