A Christmas Gift

I have a headline for you. Not about a mess in the world, but about a miracle. Ready? “Jesus Prayed For You Today!” For you! You are on His prayer list! And I’m not making this up; He said it clearly. “I do not pray for these only (his immediate audience) but also for those (this is us) who believe in me through their word (what is said and what is done).” You are in His mind and heart because of all those people who spoke and lived His presence over the years and centuries, your spiritual parents. You are in His mind and heart because of the quiet love of faithful people who taught you, loved you, forgave you, spoke of Him or demonstrated His way. The line of saints goes far back in history, all the way back to that day when Jesus spoke the words. You are in His mind and heart because of your quiet faithfulness day after day.

You remember one or two of those special people in your history, don’t you. They were the ones, now recognized in hindsight, who planted seeds, nurtured them, watered them with love so that you could bloom today. “…not for these only…” but for all who believe in me because of what they do and what they say. “I pray not only for these…” but for Gary and Susan and Judy and Virgil (put your own name here). You are on His list because faith is transmitted through the lives of ordinary people, just like the ones who are walking through your memory at this moment, your spiritual mentors, miracle makers even if they didn’t know it. Transmitted to live in the life experience of folks like us.

Now, here comes the hard part. The reason you and I are in the mind and heart of Jesus through the lives of our spiritual mentors is “…that they all may be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I am in you; that they may also be in us.” I like the part about Jesus in me and me in Jesus; why didn’t He stop there. But he didn’t. His love compels us to “be one.” To take down barriers, overcome differences, unlock doors, throw open windows so that The Spirit can blow through. The Spirit: the only thing that will bind us together in spite of our humanity. The only thing.

Christmas is just a few days away. It is the annual reminder not only of a remarkable event in the village of Bethlehem, but also of an astonishing contemporary reality: Jesus prayed for you then and does even today through your friendship with the Holy Spirit. So, I offer you this thought as a Christmas present, but you can unwrap it right now. Try it on…it will fit you perfectly.