Grown Up Christmas List

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies

Well I'm all grown-up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

[Chorus:]
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree

Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a hurting human soul

[Chorus]

What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief
Can we ever find the truth

This was a favorite Christmas song when I was growing up, another gem from the Amy Grant albums. There were a lot of people who criticized Amy Grant in those days for going secular, for singing about things other than Jesus in her songs. I always got very heated and angry in these discussions, defending my favorite music artist. I argued that God called us to be in the world, not separate from the world, and by singing secular songs she could reach more people with the truth of God's love. After all, every single topic in this world, every person, every relationship, every created thing, has Jesus' hand print on it. Just because she wasn't singing Jesus' name in every song did not mean she wasn't singing about the truths in God's word. (See, apparently I'm still heated about it!)


This song Grown Up Christmas List is a classic example of Amy Grant singing a "secular" song that communicates the truths of Jesus so beautifully. Is not the chorus the cry of every human heart? Is this not our deepest longing: no more lives torn apart, no more war, complete healing, no loneliness, justice for all, love that is eternal? As I've read through angry Facebook post after angry Facebook post this election season, what I see at the heart of both parties is this longing. Of course, the solutions on both sides are very different, but ultimately each person longs for peace, for love, for justice, for reconciliation. As a broken nation, this is our heart's cry.


But why bring up this list of brokenness at Christmas time? Shouldn't we be setting aside pain and anguish and division this Christmas and instead singing about joy, love, and happiness? Who wants to dwell on a damaged world when we are supposed to be celebrating? Sometimes I think we use the holiday season as a form of denial. We decorate our cities and homes, we sing jolly songs, we drop a few coins in the Salvation Army tin, and we pretend the world is whole for a while. We don't want to see the fractures in our society, in the lives of so many. But the truth is, so many people are hurting this time of year. People who have lost loved ones now suffer through this holiday with an emptiness in their hearts and holiday activities. Those whose depression runs so deep find it overwhelming to see the discrepancy between how their hearts feel and how the world looks this time of year. When we ignore the hurt in this world and sing our Fa La La La La's in lieu of entering into the hurt of others, we miss the point of Christmas.


Christmas is all about God entering into the damaged world. Christmas is about Jesus' heart being completely unable to watch the weeping of His people any longer. Christmas is about God's action for us, towards us. His eyes are not closed, His ears are not covered, His heart is not hardened. Instead He has watched us wound one another for too long, and He must begin the healing as soon as possible.


And so He comes. He arrives on this earth with a full awareness of the heaviness these hearts carry. He arrives knowing how much hatred we have unleashed on one another. He arrives knowing just how deep the wounds of this world are. He arrives in triumph because His birth will change all of that!


Jesus comes to usher in a new kingdom. He comes to bring hope, to bring healing, to bring wholeness. When He comes the Jews are confused because they believed that the healing would be immediate, that all the hurt would end when the Savior arrived. But God didn't just want healing for the Jews, He wanted healing for the whole world. He came that each person might know freedom, love, healing and redemption. His arrival was the beginning of that process; His life a foretaste of the healing that is to come; His death and resurrection the ultimate victory over the evils of this world.

When He comes again all of His work will be complete! When He comes again lives will no longer be torn apart, wars will cease, healing will be in full, our relationship with the God of the universe will be perfect, this world will be healed of its curse! Oh what a glorious day it will be when that second Christmas occurs!


Until then we live in the hope that this first Christmas brings. We rejoice that Jesus came to start healing the world. We exult in the peace He brings. We celebrate the God who came to be with us, to never leave us alone. Jesus came to fulfill our Grown Up Christmas List. He is our only lifelong wish. Believe that this goodness will be fully filled when Christmas comes again! Oh the hope that fills our heart for that day! Come Lord Jesus, come again! We cannot wait.