Christmas Day Thoughts
What is it that keeps us coming back, year after year, to celebrate Jesus' birth? It seems to me that the compelling aspect of this story is the location of the birth, especially if (as we profess) the one who was born was the Son, not just of Mary, but of God.
In other words, how can the birth of a baby 2000 years ago be good news for us now? Why should we still celebrate it? And how can we still be affected by his life? If that ancient prophecy is true, that this Jesus will be called Immanuel, ‘God with us’, then how is that true for us today?
I want to suggest that the key is in the place of his birth. If this baby truly was the Son of God, why on earth would he have been born in a feeding trough at the back of an inn? Surely he could have arranged to be born in a palace, or at least in a decent hotel!
And yet that’s not what he chose. Instead, Jesus was born in squalor. Why? Why would he choose that?
I want to suggest that the key is in the place of his birth. If this baby truly was the Son of God, why on earth would he have been born in a feeding trough at the back of an inn? Surely he could have arranged to be born in a palace, or at least in a decent hotel!
And yet that’s not what he chose. Instead, Jesus was born in squalor. Why? Why would he choose that?
Because that is how God chooses to be with us.
We may not wish to admit it, but each one of us has at least part of our life that resembles the mess and filth of an animal pen. For some of us, the mess of our lives is obvious. It’s plain for everyone to see. For others of us, on the other hand, we keep our mess well-hidden, deep in the dark recesses of our soul—but it’s still there. It’s there in all of us.
We may not wish to admit it, but each one of us has at least part of our life that resembles the mess and filth of an animal pen. For some of us, the mess of our lives is obvious. It’s plain for everyone to see. For others of us, on the other hand, we keep our mess well-hidden, deep in the dark recesses of our soul—but it’s still there. It’s there in all of us.
And it’s here, in these places of mess and filth and hurt, that if we will receive him, Jesus meets us. It’s in the messy, dirty mangers of our lives that Jesus meets us. He doesn’t meet us in our strengths, but in our weaknesses. He doesn’t meet us in our wealth, but in our poverty. He doesn’t meet us where we have it all together, but where it’s all falling apart. Dare I say it, it’s actually in these places where Jesus is most at home. It’s where he was born. It’s in these places where Jesus is Immanuel—God with us.
That’s why he comes to us as a saviour, because he comes to stand by our side in our dark places, in our places of mess and filth and hurt. That’s why his birth, and his life now with us, are a source of joy and rejoicing.
This Son of God, who did not seek to stay in his heavenly glory but who instead came to dwell amongst us on earth, came and met us in our dark places, and, as the Advent candles remind us, to shine his light into our lives.
That’s why he comes to us as a saviour, because he comes to stand by our side in our dark places, in our places of mess and filth and hurt. That’s why his birth, and his life now with us, are a source of joy and rejoicing.
This Son of God, who did not seek to stay in his heavenly glory but who instead came to dwell amongst us on earth, came and met us in our dark places, and, as the Advent candles remind us, to shine his light into our lives.
Amen.
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