95 Meeting God on Christmas
- By Dzung Nguyen
Christmas is an anniversary of Jesus’ birthday to most people. It is a season of love without hatred. It is a season for us to pay attention to each other by giving out gifts – not only expensive and valuable gifts, but gifts that reflect intimate love. Even if the gift is small, it will be a priceless gift if it is wrapped up with love, respect, and gratitude.
There is a story about an old man who came to understand the meaning of such gifts on a Christmas day long ago.
People in this town only knew his name as Mr. Tùng. He lived alone because his wife passed away years ago. He was a shoemaker in this place for a long time. On Christmas Eve, Mr. Tùng sat alone in the store with the Bible in his hands. He was reading a story about the wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus.
He said to himself, “If tomorrow were the first Christmas day, and baby Jesus was born tonight in this small town, then I know what gift I would give to him!”
He brought out a pair of soft tiny shoes, white as snow with silver buttons on it.
“I would give baby Jesus this pair of shoes, because I made them carefully. I know his mother would have liked it for sure. But, this is just the wishful thinking of an old man.”
He smiled, then said, “Jesus probably wouldn’t want such a simple gift from me.”
Then he put the shoes away, turned off the lights, and went to bed.
.....
While Mr. Tùng was sleeping peacefully, he heard someone call out, “Mr. Tùng.” He thought he heard a soft voice sound in the air, “Mr. Tùng, do you want to see me? Tomorrow I will pass by your neighborhood. If you see me and invite me in, then I’ll become your guest and will sit together.”
Mr. Tùng woke up suddenly in amazement. Was that Jesus? Mr. Tùng felt so happy that he could not fall back to sleep again. He left the room before dawn and started cleaning up. He wiped down the table and chairs. He put an apple pie, a few loaves of bread, a strawberry jelly jar and a bottle of milk on the table. After everything was finished, Mr. Tùng stood next to the window and looked outside. He saw a street sweeper who was blowing his hands trying to keep warm in front of the house.
He said to himself, “Poor guy, he must be very cold.”
Opening the door widely, he spoke out in a loud voice, “Come in and have breakfast with me, my friend.”
The street sweeper raised his head and replied happily, “Oh yes, thank you so much!”
A moment later, Mr. Tùng looked out the street and saw a lady who wore old and outdated clothes stooping low to look for cans in the neighbors’ trash bins. The sight of that lady brought anguish to Mr. Tùng’s heart. Though he was not a rich man, he realized that God had blessed him a lot and that he was luckier than a lot of people. He returned to the back and pulled out a big bag containing can and bottles for recycling that he picked up along the way to the park he walked to every evening. He waved to the lady and said:
“Hey lady, come in and get a drink to warm you up, I have some cans and bottles for you here.”
The lady raised her eyes and looked at him gratefully–“You are so kind, sir.”
Suddenly, Mr. Tùng heard someone knocking on the door while he was tidying around some more. He looked out and saw a shoe polish boy, wearing only a tattered and torn shirt. The boy said:
“Mr. Tùng! Do you have any customers who need shoe polishing? Can you help me please? I haven’t had anything in my stomach since last night because I don’t have money. I’m so hungry right now.”
Mr. Tùng’s eyes grew moist and he said, “Come in and warm yourself up. I have some bread and milk for you.” Then he took off his jacket and covered the boy.
Right at that moment, Mr. Tùng saw a slovenly and pale woman with a baby in her arms. The woman held her son tightly in her arms to keep him from the cold wind as they rested in front of the shop.
He felt pity for them and he opened the door quickly and said, “You guys should come inside to avoid the cold wind!”
The woman looked up at him and whispered, “We are on the way to the hospital for help because I am not feeling well. I feel so sick and tired.”
Mr. Tùng replied, “Poor guys! Eat something, ok? Let me get some milk for the baby. Oh! He looks so cute! Why didn’t you put shoes on for him on a cold day like this?”
The mother sighed, “I don’t have enough money to buy shoes for my son.”
Upon hearing that, Mr. Tùng took down the pair of white shoes on the shelf and put them on the baby’s feet. It was a perfect fit.
“I give this pair of shoes to him. I myself them made a few days ago.”
.....
Time quietly passed, and customers rolled in and out Mr. Tùng’s shop all day. It was almost dark but he did not see the One who promised last night to stop by and visit him.
He closed the shop and sighed, “I guess what happened last night was just the wishful dream of an old man.”
Suddenly, a bright light flooded the room. Mr. Tùng rubbed his eyes and was so surprised seeing the street sweeper, the lady looking for cans, the shoe polish boy, the pale woman with her baby. All were smiling at him.
“Do you recognize Us? Did We not sit together with you today?”
Then everything disappeared and there is soft voice whispered into his ears from the air:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in”
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35-40)
Brothers and Sisters,
In this Christmas season filled with Jesus’ love, if you opened your heart greeting and giving aid to those needy people like what Mr. Tùng did in the story, it means that you did it for Jesus.
