A Challenge for Parents this Christmas

I came across this poem and wanted to share it:

We're 30.
It's December.
And he asks me what I want
for Christmas this year.

I laugh and say...

Oh, I don't know.
Sleep.
Silence.
Sanity?

He half smiles,
because we both know
I can't have that.

We're 80 now.
It's December.
And he asks me what I want
for Christmas this year.

I look at the tree,
filled with handmade ornaments,
now decades old.
They hang quietly,
untouched.

I look at the lights,
glowing across an empty floor.
No longer full of toy cars, lego,
and crumbs.

I recall the years
where everything felt alive.
The squeals at sunrise.
The torn-open boxes.
The little voices yelling,
"Mama, come see!"

I cry and say,
Oh, I don't know.
Just one more Christmas
when they were little?

He half smiles,
because we both know
I can't have that.

And that's when it hits me.
I got everything
I thought I wanted
when I was 30.
Turns out,
I miss everything I had
when I was 30.
The days are messy,
but they years are magic.
And you can't
get them back.

Enjoy them.

For three things that Jesus knew, four things he did well. We see these in John 13:1-17. The first thing he knew was his time. Verse one tells us that “before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus knew that he had a limited time on the earth to do what the Father had sent him to do. So knowing that “his hour had come to depart out of this world,” he loved his disciples to the end.

The second thing that Jesus knew was his own. The same verse tells us that Jesus, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” Jesus knew who were his, who the Father had entrusted to him. He did not have a ton of followers, nor a global (or for that matter a national ministry), nor did he seek such a huge following or someone else’s flock. Rather he was faithful to the twelve God had given him.

The third thing that Jesus knew was his mission, his Commissioner, and his identity. Verse three tells us that, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.” Jesus knew he was on a mission. Jesus knew who it was who had sent him. Jesus knew who he was—a servant. And he came not to be served but to serve.

Because Jesus knew these three things: his time, his own, and his mission, Commissioner, and identity, we see him do four things in this text.

First, he rose from supper. Because he knew that his time was running short and because he knew who God had given him, and because he knew that he was sent to serve whom God had given him for the amount of time that God had given him, he rose from supper. During the most relaxing part of the day, he rose from supper. When work was done, he rose from supper. When the time to be served was at hand, he rose from supper.

Second, he laid aside some things. John tells us that “he laid aside his outer garments.” We can liken this today to Jesus loosening his tie, logging off, taking off his shoes, or laying aside his work clothes.

After he laid aside his outer garments, we see him take the form of a servant. Jesus got down low (“became a horse” for those dads with small children) and served those whom God had given him.

And he served them by washing their feet—even the one who didn’t understand what he was doing (ie, Peter) and even the one who would betray him with clean feet (ie, Judas). He did a noble thing; he did something that John the Baptist said he wasn’t even worthy to do (see John 1:27).

We can learn a lot from this passage, especially as parents. For just like Jesus, the time we have with our own is short—our mission is time sensitive. Knowing then that we do not know specifically when our time (or their time) will be to go to the Father, we must spend each day as if it were our last to complete the mission we’ve been given—to love our own to the end. Every one of us has been summoned to serve. We have not been summoned to seek a flock, but rather to serve the little one(s) already given us. Our title is not Master of the House, but Servant of the House. Because of this, let us daily rise from supper, lay aside work, take the form of a servant, and wash our family from the dirt of the day.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” Jesus asks in verses 12-17:

[13] You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. [14] If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. [15] For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. [16] Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. [17] If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (ESV)

How can you keep both an eternal and a temporal perspective when it comes to the calling you have received to shepherd your family?

What do you tend to forget the most when it comes to shepherding your family?

• The very small time you have with your family?
• The fact that your primary flock is your family?
• Your mission to serve your family or your identity as servant? 

Take some time to reflect on these questions and read through John 13 again. I pray that your reflection on this text and these questions will help you grow in the knowledge of God and bear fruit. Merry Christmas, and enjoy them.

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