I wasn’t expecting it, but I had a lot of fun!
This was pre-pandemic. I was at our office Christmas party and ready to just sit back, chomp on the catered food and enjoy the program. But someone handed me a red apron and said, “Nelson, you’ll be one of the servers tonight.” I joined the other managers as we donned our aprons, stood behind the buffet stations and put food on the employees’ plates.
Whoever thought of it was brilliant. What a powerful and tangible way to express our appreciation to their hard work! On the other side of the heating trays, the rank-and-file had a merry time seeing their bosses – aprons over their Marks and Spencer shirts, mind you – serving them.
The rice was steaming hot and the caterer kept the tray filled. By the time it was over, I was sweating. I must have served over 50 plates. I found a new way to lose weight. Forget the gym. Join a soup kitchen.
As I took my own dinner, it hit me: this is Christmas in working clothes. And this was how Jesus came into the world and grew up.
In that Christmas party, the managers could have reveled in all the glory of their offices. Yet they humbly put on their aprons, masked their glory and served the people.
This is only a glimpse of a glorious truth: Jesus is God. But instead of coming to earth in dazzling glory, He humbly took on the “apron” of a human being who tasted hunger, thirst, fatigue, obscurity, ridicule, rejection and yes, suffering. More so, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Think about it. Jesus was the Son of God, yet He chose to be born from a virgin betrothed to an everyday carpenter. As a babe in the manger, His swaddling clothes may well be Joseph’s work attire.
As He was growing up, Jesus was not garbed in a monarch’s robe or a general’s uniform, but in a carpenter’s tunic, facing the same hassles we do at the office, factory, call center or clinic. Thus, He can model how we can conduct ourselves in our own workplaces, with the same dedication, wisdom, integrity and graciousness that must have radiated from that carpenter’s shop.
Jesus truly personifies Christmas in working clothes. And for that, let us come and adore Him!
A blessed Yuletide and a prosperous New Year!
Photo from https://www.wayfair.com/kitchen-tabletop/pdx/the-holiday-aisle-frosty-christmas-apron-mnlx1157.html
December 24, 2021
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