No matter where we are...

May we be reminded of the manger

It seems that this year has brought me  to many strange places.  I moved to a different country, yes, but beyond that, God stretched me in ways that I never imagined.  We faced tragedy, heartache, challenges, and pain that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  

In my childhood, our pastor asked a group of excited children at the 7PM family service to turn around and face the nativity scene. He asked what held baby Jesus.  I didn't know, but my friend's hand shot up immediately.  My friend wasn't very smart, and he almost always got the answer wrong.  I was immediately embarrassed for him as he answered much too loudly into the pastor's microphone "a slop bucket."  The other children laughed, and I blushed and scooted a little away from him, trying to make it look like I just wanted to see more clearly what held Jesus.  I was a pretty smart kid, and I almost always got the answer right.  

Our pastor joyfully exclaimed, "That's right.  That's absolutely right.  That's the best answer I've ever heard."  

Jesus.  God's son.  The King of Kings.  The promised Messiah.  The Prince of Peace.  The One who came to take away the sins of the world.  Lying in "a slop bucket."  

I couldn't believe it.  It simply had to be wrong.  That wasn't the place for Jesus to be.  

And this year, as it feels like I'm in a slop bucket of my own, it's reassuring to know that I'm in good company.  The lowest, poorest, saddest, -______est we've ever felt - our  Lord has been there too.  That's how it all started.  In the stink and stench of a barnyard, our Savior came to redeem the world.  

Pastor Adam Hamilton writes, "The Christmas story ends at a cross and an empty tomb. God becomes subject to the evil humanity is capable of. He is tortured and hung on a cross and dies there in agony. But this is not the end of the story. On the third day, the tomb is empty, and Christ is risen. Easter declares that death and hate and evil will never have the final word." It begins in a lowly barn, and it continues through the life, death and resurrection, and it continues through us.  

Throughout the centuries, the voices of Christians have echoed across the world the Good News that our Savior is born in Bethlehem.  "Get your slop-bucket of a heart ready to hold him.  Invite him in."  

As a missionary, I'm one of the voices crying out the good news that Jesus will go anywhere.  No heart is too broken, wretched, filthy, or cold for the Babe of Bethlehem to enter in.  

As a supporter of missionaries, your voices also cry out - they invite people all around the world to share in the good news of Jesus Christ.  General Board of Global Ministries missionaries in more than 100 countries will sing this good news to eager ears, hungry bellies and broken hearts.  You make that possible. 

This year has brought me to many strange places, and each one of them reminds me of the manger.

Love, 
Michael Airgood