There is no shortage of home-baked goodies this time of year. We have enjoyed a great deal of divine culinary creations already and have a few more weeks of this glorious madness! I know it’s a struggle for some and means unwanted weight gain for many, but they are delicious!!! I really enjoy (most) homemade desserts (and not just at Christmas). There is a special treat, however, that reminds me of Christmas and seems to stand a head above the rest. My mom called them bon-bons.
Growing up, my mom ALWAYS made bucketloads of Christmas cookies, bars, and treats. Our family would host the ENTIRE church for an evening. We would clean and clean and clean for hours just to have the house destroyed by all the church folks who would come and go, eat and talk, and spend an evening with us. As kids, we didn’t mind the party so much because of course the buffet of goodies to eat as well as lots of friends to run the neighborhood with. Bon-bons always were a hit and I would eat my weight in the bite-sized bombshells.
They were (brace yourself) a ball of some peanut butter concoction, including dates I believe, bathed in chocolate, then put in the fridge to harden before being consumed. I would crush these by the handfuls, 3 and 4 at a time. I had my fair share of frosted sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fudge bars, and any other excessive sugar filled inventions, but always came back for and finished with, the BON-BON!
(I can see me now during Christmas time, creeping through the house. Oh what joy and what delight, when I’d take a look inside, and see another bon-bon sitting there. I’d nibble the hardened chocolate exterior that cooled flat at the bottom, then bite into it exposing the gooey center, quickly popping the rest in before the first half was thoroughly masticated!)
While explicitly delicious, they make me think of more than just a diabetic grenade. Being the shape of a ball, they bring to mind the very depiction of this week’s word in our advent series, LOVE. Their spherical shape, dark color, hard exterior and contoured surface brings the stone to mind that would have been placed in front of the opening to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid on the side of the mountain.
In the book, The Case for Christ, Lee Stroble lays out a compelling case for the real-life event of Jesus’ life, mostly digging and uncovering the facts surrounding his death and resurrection. In his book, he recounts the interviews, research, and findings from his 2-year journey that led him to find a personal faith and the saving grace in Jesus that revolved around the baby boy that rocked the world over 2,000 years ago, who’s birthday we celebrate in a couple weeks.
In a world filled with sorrow and loss, grief and pain, sickness and death, history has taught us the cruel reality of the eventual and inevitable abandonment by loved ones. For those people who followed Jesus, who came to put their hope in this man, who grew to genuinely believe in and love him dearly, his death was shocking in addition to heartbreaking to say the least.
They had high hopes of ancient promises fulfilled, of redemption for a nation, of new life under his authority. First, they were shocked that he showed up as a baby to a lowly nobody teenage mother from a town of notable insignificance. Then, their hope was validated as he began his public ministry, recruitment of followers, and displayed his power with miracles.
But then, they watched him be beaten mercilessly, hung unrecognizably on a cross, die, and his body put in a tomb that was sealed behind a large stone. For these people, that rock was more than a barrier to conceal the remains of their beloved friend. Paper couldn’t beat this rock and it defeated way more than just scissors. This rock was the crushing boulder of their hopes and dreams, peace and future, sealing their fate in a state of oppression and despair.
As I think about those bon-bons and reflect on that stone considering our series and word of the week, there is a new depth of love realized. We certainly think of the ultimate sacrifice being the greatest portrayal of love, and even the disciple and best friend of Jesus declares that “no greater love than for one to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But I find this truth compelling and give you this thought, the greatest love and self-sacrifice has an even greater element because that wasn’t the end.
A human can only give up his or her life for someone else. But the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace, the Messiah, the Son of God, is the only ONE who can overcome death in the name of love. And in that…there is absolutely no match for a perfect display of public (and personal) affection!
So, next time you see a bon-bon (or anything that resembles one), may you be reminded of the extravagant love the Father has for you. And may it bring you to a response of surrender, of acceptance, of celebration that the birth of Jesus is the gateway to your own resurrection!
Christmas is almost here. Would you slow down and let it really settle on your spirit and bring about redemption in your most desperate circumstance and shine in your darkest situation. The rock wasn’t a seal of fate but a sign of love. The truth is that God loves you more than you can imagine, and new life is yours in Christ. (2 Cor 5:17)
#SeasonOfSweetness
#LOVE
#Rock&Rock
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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