The other day I unwrapped my nativity scene and put it under the living room lamp. It looks good there, on the end table, but what was I thinking? That the lamp would be the star…? The scene is set up in a prominent place right next to the snowy red birdhouses and the stockings.

I am sure of this – come Christmas, there will be candy in those stockings.

It’s not as easy to be sure of the nativity.

Early in the Christmas story, Zechariah is told by an angel that after a lifetime of infertility, he and his wife Elizabeth (Mary’s cousin) will have a son. For Zech, this news is too good to be true. His response is “How can I be sure of this?” (Luke 1:18).

It’s a question about trust.

I used to think of trust as payment…something to be earned.

The problem is nobody’s perfect, so in terms of trust commerce, we’ll always be in the red. The best we can hope for is trust on a sliding scale fee.

Now right next to the commerce sits the nativity, and God who is perfect and can 100% be trusted, but never seems to feel a need to prove himself. I imagine he enjoys watching us unwrap the nativity – his precious gift.

In light of such a profound mystery – the gift that keeps on giving – what could we possibly give to God?

Give trust.