Christ is Born, in Me
Ben Roberts

Scripture: John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I don’t exactly know when I learned that the Bible does not precisely pinpoint the day of Jesus’ birth.  Spoiler Alert: there is a 1 in 365 chance that it was December 25th.  I do remember being shocked and a little confused.  I mean Christmas is kind of a big deal!

For several years, I became what I will characterize as a “bah humbug” Christian. It wasn’t exactly a crisis of faith, but I certainly had a crisis of holiday.

Over the years my cynicism softened as I continued to look at the bigger message.  The where and when of Jesus’ birth are not as important as the fact that He came at all.  As a species, humanity has a rather checkered past as to how we carry out our lives.  We, and by we, I mean me, tend to love our neighbors and hate our enemies (Matthew 5:43).  This inevitably leads to a two camps world view: Us and Them.  This is not a recipe for peace on Earth and goodwill to humanity, but rather various levels of war.

But God did not leave us to wallow in our selfishness.  He did not delegate the task to a mere mortal or angelic being.  No, God took the most hands-on approach imaginable.  The creator became the created.    For three years, Jesus walked the roads of Galilee with a revolutionary message.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  When asked to elaborate, Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), where the “enemy” of the Jewish faith is the hero of the story.  The implication is clear, we are all neighbors and we must show love to everyone.

Then in a cosmic transaction I still only barely understand, God by way of Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and died a painful and humiliating death.  Three days later, he rose again.  And somehow, someway by acknowledging this sacrifice, I get to spend eternity with God.

We have a holiday to commemorate God’s ultimate sacrifice, Easter of course.  But how do we remember that God did not leave us alone, that he chose to dwell among us?  That my friends, is Christmas.  It is the time we celebrate God becoming vulnerable, becoming one of us.  The time and date may be interesting, but merely a footnote.  The banner headline is that God came to be with us (John 1:14)!  That is something to celebrate.

These days I tend to frame Christmas around two pivotal moments, one universal and one quite personal.  The first I’ve already elaborated on.  The second was when the God of the universe made a home in my heart.  It was an innocent biologic question I asked my mother on the drive home from church.  I was all of 5 years old when I asked how Jesus could literally fit in my heart. We were a block away from home.  My mother pulled the car over and helped me to invite the infinite God of the universe into my growing heart. 

I believe He was always there, but I became aware of it that day.  I believe the course of my life was forever altered. 

May the infinite God find home in your finite heart.  Merry Christmas.

Prayer:
God who said, “Let there be light,” and who turned on the lights in the heart of a five-year-old child this season we remember Your staggering decision to live among us, to die for us, and to live again. We thank You that by clothing Yourself in humanity, You have given us hope that one day we will be clothed in immortality. Amen.