Advent. The coming of quiet joy.
Arrival of radiant light in our darkness.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
He is curtailed who overflowed all skies, all years.
Older than eternity, now he is new.
Now native to earth as I am,
nailed to my poor planet,
caught that I might be free.
~Luci Shaw (1928- )
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
~ from John 1
Oh beloved, it is true. We know about Christmas. Or do we? For within the cry of the tiny Babe in the manger is a breadth and depth and width of strength and Hope and purpose we cannot even begin to fathom.
G_d became what He had created.
The Author of Eternity bound Himself in time.
He with infinite strength emptied it out to nearly nothing.
The One with no need became utterly dependent on young parents.
A Triune Being became an individual.
Infallible Spirit became mortal flesh.
Slow down beloved. Read the above again. Certain parts of the Gospel are so astounding, so bewildering – as to decimate our ability to comprehend them at some sort of intellectual level. What happened was not some sort of fairytale wherein we suspend our thinking to allow the story to progress.
There is no need for us to suspend our thinking, for the evidence of the reality of what has happened is overwhelming. The torrent of precise (and fulfilled) prophecy, combined with the miraculous signs and the incredible Love of Jesus, are utterly compelling.
And even so, the forces of darkness would have us to believe that Christmas is just some story; that it is not relevant to us today. “Oh, it is cute,” some would say – “but nothing really to do with the problems facing the planet in this age.” So, these forces keep trying to make darkness stick. But, even with the copious flinging of the stuff at each and every soul, it does not work.
Light wins.
Can we see it? The incarnation was not a weakening of G_d. The incarnation showed that G_d, even in His weakest, most defeatable state, is not subject to defeat. As it is written, even the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and the weakness of God is stronger than any human strength.
So, said more simply, this Baby in the manger was well able to take care of Himself. Yes, G_d was showing that even the tiniest portion of who He is, is more than able to fix and heal every problem that has, does, and ever will present itself to the world.
The truth of this is evident. Even though we wring our hands at the problems of the world. His Kingdom was established with a small band of disciples some 2,000 years ago. The Roman government of the time gave Him the title He truly holds: King of The Jews (and all of us are the Israel of G_d). Now, some 2.18 Billion profess His name across the planet… And, wherever His name is trusted, life is indeed better on all counts.
Even this though, is just the beginning, for this same Jesus who was born and lived and died and now lives again forever, will return to establish His Kingdom in fullness. And in this place,
The created will become like their Creator.
Time will be bound and Eternity abound.
The emptiness of weakness will be filled with infinite strength in His Presence.
Our utter dependence will become complete communion with Him.
We will participate in the fellowship of the Triune One who set us free.
Mortal flesh will be swallowed up in Life.
The Gospel is astoundingly good news beloved. Tonight is your night. Time to see just how big this Good News is.
In spite of all appearances to the contrary, God has a plan for this bankrupt world. He still has something in store for it. This dark, satanic earth, drowned in blood and tears, this earth of ours, he still wants as a theatre for his grace and glorious direction.
~Helmut Thielicke (1908-1986)
