Christmas
December 25, 2020
Scripture Reading:
Isaiah 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
God with us has come in human form, experiencing being human from the womb. A well-known but unattributable quote describes the importance of this reality, “You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” I can imagine God surveying the earth, considering how many great leaders and prophets God had sent to us to reset human paths. Corrections were made, and about the time we seem to be getting our acts together, we begin missing the mark again and fall into disorder and even exile. I can see God, pondering, “Maybe I need to experience being human to learn how I can keep them on the right paths.” And, so, unto us, a child was given, and we called it the Incarnation.
Jesus’ exposure to birth, life on earth, death, and resurrection brought us new strength through God’s gift of grace and new responsibilities being the Body of Christ in the world today. Jesus Christ saw that we could not love like him unless we learned by direct contact the importance of loving one another and how to love one another.
I have been reading complaints about federal legislation to provide USA citizens financial help as we all struggle through the deprivation caused by the COVID pandemic. Many are saying the amount per person granted in the legislation is not enough. Some object to funds allocated for other nations, arguing we should take care of our citizens before taking care of people from other countries. Pandemics cannot be walled out just as evil cannot. As followers of Christ, we are called to love all our neighbors as we love ourselves. Practically speaking, we will not rid the USA of this virus unless we rid the whole world of it. God created the world on a foundation of love. Caste systems segmenting people according to evil’s biases is not of God and thus will never conform to God’s divine plan.
Prayer: Lord, help us realize that you created a world that can provide enough for everyone if we can open our hearts and learn to love like Jesus. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.