Helping Jesus resolve an identity crisis

By Cindy Jury

I woke up to the sound of the pitter-patter of jammied feet of children expectantly looking for Santa. My head hurt from too little sleep and too much sugary eggnog. I had a bad head cold, Thanksgiving was equally bad, and now after the presents, all of my hard work and months of planning would be over.

I knew I had to jump up and join our little ones under the tree, but all I could think was, “Is this what it’s all about? If Jesus were here on Christmas, would He be able to find Himself”?

Let’s take an imaginary journey, and picture Jesus upstairs in heaven the week before Christmas. Imagine He’s having an identity crisis and His dad says, “Well, Jesus, go downstairs to Earth and try to find yourself. Tell you what, son, I’ll even make it easy for you; I’ll send you down the week that they celebrate your birthday. It’s named after you! It’s called Christmas. Surely you will find yourself there!”

Let’s picture God giving Jesus a really cool minivan and a little bit of cash. I suggest that Jesus appears incognito, looking something like a Seattle grunge rocker.

He decides to rock on to the mall because that’s where all of the cars are. He gets honked at, yelled at, cursed at. He concludes that He probably won’t find himself in the parking lot, so He wanders inside.
As Jesus strolls through the mall, He discovers that there is an art to walking the mall. Around the holidays, there really is a left lane and a right lane. Jesus proceeds to go against the flow just to see people’s faces. A busy mom who has to be home in 10 minutes gives Him an impatient “You should be in the left lane” kind of look. After that, someone, maybe you or I, pass Him by in irritation.

To add insult to injury, the security guy eyes Him up and down suspiciously. Nobody says “Hi, Jesus! Happy birthday!” They are just too busy looking for that perfect gift.
And I propose that Jesus may think, “I have a gift for them. It is valuable, beautiful and unwrapped. Do they see the gift? Do they see me?”

After the mall experience, Jesus decides to go to the grocery store because again, there’s a lot of action, a lot of cars, a lot of people. As He is standing in the checkout line, He sees a woman putting some of her items back because she does not have enough money. A person waiting in line behind her discreetly hands her some cash and says, “Merry Christmas.” Jesus says, “Wow, I think I am finding myself here.”

Jesus continues to discover Himself that day as He listens in on the phone line. A family who has been arguing over their plans for Christmas decides to call a truce and forgive each other for their misunderstandings. On another line He hears a man inviting people to join together on Christmas day to hand out sandwiches and sleeping bags to the homeless. Jesus feels like He is getting a clearer picture of who He is and what He is about.
Encouraged, Jesus decides to take a risk and visit a home on Christmas morning. (Maybe yours.) As He walks through the doorway, Jesus makes eye contact. He sees that He is recognized. You see His reflection mirrored in you. You might ask Him, “How can you see yourself in me?” Jesus might reply, “Because you are open to me, you are searching for my identity. You are not perfect; you even honked at me in the parking lot, but see what I have brought to you today. A Christmas present! It is the gift of forgiveness, love and salvation. Will you open it?”
To top things off and make your day, Jesus then thanks you for helping him find his identity. He explains, “Whatever you have done for the least of those around you, you have done for me.” He reveals to you that He saw you this week, and the unselfish things you did helped Him find Himself.

Spiritually speaking, do you see yourself in this imaginary journey? Does Jesus see Himself in you as you live your everyday life? Are you the one who helped the woman at the grocery store, or the one who decided to forgive your family members? Or maybe you just dropped a quarter in the Salvation Army jar today.
I don’t know, but what I do know is that Jesus is looking for more of Himself in this world every day.
Will He find Himself in you this Christmas?

Merry Christmas and happy birthday, Jesus!

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