December 2009 Pastor's Ponderings

Everyone longs for Christmas celebrations wrapped in warm memories of the past and filled with expectations for the future. Children expectantly, although perhaps not patiently, wait until they can open presents. Those with a few years under their belts think back to Christmases past and perhaps loved ones long gone. For many, Christmas is a time when they allow themselves a few fleeting minutes to experience peace and the love of family and friends. Others, in the midst of difficult circumstances, long for lost dreams and loves.

Mary had expectations for the birth of her child. As Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, the long and jostling journey gave Mary ample prompting and opportunity to perceive the nearness of birth as well as to imagine how it might take place. Like any mother, Mary must have anticipated a nice private place for the child to be born. She probably hoped for the assistance of an experienced midwife. Surely she would have longed for a clean and secure place for her child to sleep and for her to recover from her labor.

None of those expectations would be met. There was no room in the inn. Who knows where they found those strips of cloth to make swaddling clothes? For lack of anything better, they laid this precious infant in a feed trough. Even if the animals were shooed to a distant corner, reminders of their recent presence would be under foot.

Nevertheless, despite what Jesus’ parents might have expected, the true meaning of Christmas burst forth. Jesus, Emmanuel, was born and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When human expectations were frustrated, God met our greatest need. God’s greatest gift is found far outside of ordinary human expectations.

Sadly, each of us is tempted to pursue our Christmas expectations rather than God’s. Like a con artist, our culture tries to scam us out of the incredible truth of Christmas. Stores, in an insidious holiday creep, market a Christmas of consumerism earlier each year. Despite the current lean economy, shoppers crowd cash registers – further enslaving themselves to debt in pursuit of human expectations.

The gift of Christmas is not in our expectations, but the reality of God’s gift. It is a child born in a barn rather than a palace, working-class parents not royalty, a manger that is inseparable from the cross, for all eternity and not just a holiday, and given not purchased.

Your bother in Christ,
Paul