Withholding Nothing

It’s my first Christmas in a foreign country this year, and I am overwhelmed by how amusingly eccentric Germans are at Christmas! Everyone has an advent calendar or an advent wreath with candles. They have greenery, lights, and star lamps glowing in the windows. There are enormous markets for glühwein, spiced nuts, Christmas trees, special breads, and cakes. (Closed due to COVID this year, but still!) There’s a whole day dedicated for treats in your boots, plus 3 WHOLE DAYS of Christmas celebration! There’s a lot of talk about Christkind, or the Christ child, and we see a lot of nativity iconography. Of course there is a lot of buzz about Santa and presents as well, but for Germans the holiday mostly centers on time together as a family. It’s honestly pretty magical.

Not to be outdone, we’ve been slowly decorating a Jesse Tree for the advent season at the Ferguson house. It’s an advent calendar that tells the story of Jesus’s family tree, beginning at Creation. It starts with Jesse, who was the Father of King David. In Isaiah 11, it says: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (v. 1-4, NIV). We believe Jesus is this branch of new life and new beginnings!

My son’s favorite story from the Jesse Tree, and really the entire Old Testament, is when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on the altar but at the last second provides a ram and spares Isaac’s life. Every time I read it, Ian’s hand flies to his mouth in suspense until I read the part where God’s angel says, “Stop! Don’t hurt the boy!” I’m not sure exactly why this is his favorite story. Maybe he likes the intensity of the moment, or maybe he likes that God comes to the rescue. But I like it because it’s an extreme example of servant leadership.

Abraham showed Isaac the importance of trusting God and following His commands, even when they didn’t make sense. Isaac, too, obeyed his earthly father and trusted him when it looked like he would die. When God’s angel tells them, “I know now that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12), I think, Wow. Abraham gave God everything. He withheld nothing. His life, and his son’s life, was his worship. This story is stunning and shocking; even more so, when we realize that this whole event repeats itself when later, Jesus comes to die for us all.

I’ve thought a lot about what it means to not withhold anything from God this year. 2020 has definitely been a time to learn a new dependency on God and his will for my life. But when I think back on Abraham and Isaac’s example and how their trust in God paved the way for Jesus to be born, I realize that whatever I am doing now, as long as it’s what God has told me clearly to do, has to be done with my whole heart. Like Maria Von Trapp says in the Sound of Music: “Find out what is the will of God, and do it wholeheartedly!” Those who come after me are going to reap the benefits of the work I do now. And someday, on the other side of heaven, that work will be molded into a crown that I can place at Jesus’s feet.

As I prayed over what God has spoken to me during this Christmas season, specifically Abraham and Isaac’s story, the Lord called to mind the song, “The Holly and the Ivy.” Honestly, I’ve never paid any attention to the words of this song until this year. And what I found was really stunning. Here are the lyrics:

The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir
The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flow'r
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our dear Saviour
O, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir
The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing in the choir
The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn

In the song, the sharpness of the holly’s leaves bring to mind the crown of thorns worn by Jesus; the red berries represent Jesus’s blood shed for us; the holly’s blossom is white, like the righteousness of Christ; and the shape of the leaves are reminiscent of flames, which remind us of God’s burning love for his people. God withholds nothing from us. Even his creation, the holly and ivy, are green year-round; they hold nothing back. What a reminder for me and my family at Christmas to let our whole lives be for the Lord.

In short, I’ll never look at holly and ivy the same ever again, and now I have this beautiful picture of our servant leader, Jesus, not just as the Christkind at Christmastime, but as our hardworking Savior, whose Father’s heart burns for his children.

Fröhliche Weihnachten!
(Merry Christmas!)

I want to hear from you. What are your favorite reminders of God’s love at Christmastime?

About the author: Callie Ferguson left her home in Oklahoma to serve as a field worker with refugees in Hamburg, Germany, with her husband, Jacob, and two children, Rory and Ian.

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