MERRY CHRISTMAS
God with us - The Miracle of the Incarnation
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 NIV
I received an early Christmas present this year. Sandra, my wife, and I stopped by to visit a family who are dear friends and to drop off some Christmas cookies. They have two young sons and during the course of our visit, the dad invited me to come outside and help them set up the crèche or manger scene on their front lawn.
Our quest took us first into the garage to get the stable and familiar figures, then out to the lawn we went. The stable, nearly four feet across was placed on the lawn and then father and sons carefully set the figures…. beginning with those in the background. The angel was put in the back corner, as a quiet sentry. The 3 magi-travelers from the East with their gifts were placed, camel-check, donkey-check.
Mary and Joseph were next and located with honor, center stable next to the empty manger. The dad who grew up on a farm did some good teaching as father and sons were on their knees placing the characters of the Christmas story. He taught them the manger was a feed trough.
“Now for baby Jesus!” exclaimed the older brother, seven years old. “Here he is…” shouted the younger 4-year-old brother. The youngest one picked up baby Jesus and looked at him carefully, turning him over. This Jesus had a loose fitting “swaddling cloths” wrapped around his waist that only covered a little of him. “Hey dad, Jesus has a bottom!!!” the boy shouted with a joyful sense of discovery, and a few giggles as he gazed quizzically at the partly exposed backside of the Savior.
My prayer for each of us this Holy season is that we might experience, with a deep sense of discovery, more of the miracle and mystery that the Lord of the Universe-the Son of God-the Savior of the world was born in a smelly, noisy manger with a cast of characters. “Jesus had a bottom!”
How many Christmases have you celebrated? Do you find, at times, that the words are almost too familiar and you don’t pause to ponder the audacious proclamations or realize the full impact for you, for me…for God’s world.
“God so love the world, that He sent his only begotten son,….”
John 3:16
This Christmas may you be guided deeper into the wonder and power of our faith. God is ALIVE! God came into this world as baby Jesus. He was and is fully God AND fully human. He experienced hunger and cried as Mary suckled and comforted him. As he grew he probably hit his thumb with a hammer as his earthly dad was teaching him carpentry and it hurt. He marveled at the beauty of God and knew the joy and pain of relationships.
Jesus had a bottom-meaning he lived, laughed, loved, led, and then was crucified, dead and buried until the third day when he rose again and later ascended to heaven. In Jesus the Christ we have one that is able to empathize with us and understand AND is King of the Cosmos-who was with God and was/is God Hebrews 4:14-16 . I am so thankful that I was able to kneel on a damp front lawn with this family and re-discover the difficult to fully fathom meaning of Christmas.
“You shall call his name Emmanuel-which means God with us!”
Please know how much each of you are appreciated as a true gift, leading and serving in your local congregations. May you be blessed, even as you bless your communities this Christmas season.
Grace and Peace!
-Pastor Brian
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