Christmas Day

It’s a kid’s book, really, but it’s fascinating. The title is 501 Incredible But True Facts to Amaze You. For example, did you hear about the guy in Virginia who was struck by lightning seven times…and lived? I can’t figure out if that’s good luck or bad luck. Or the fact that a python can swallow a pig whole and then not eat again for a year? Did you know that Beethoven used to dump ice water on his head to stimulate his brain?  Or that there are rocks found on the top of Mt. Everest that were formed in the bottom of the sea 6 million years ago? Or that the earth’s crust, which is 20 miles deep, if you compare it to the full size of the earth, would be the equivalent of the thickness of an eggshell?

Did you know it takes 8.5 minutes for light to travel the 93 million miles from the sun to the earth?  Or that if it were possible for all the adults on the planet to stand on each other’s shoulders in a human chain, it would reach all the way to the moon?

Similarly, someone estimated that if all the folks who sleep during sermons were laid end-to-end… they would be more comfortable!

The Christmas star says, “We are not alone, we are not forgotten.” The same God who fashioned the universe and flung the planets into their unerring orbits; the same God who fills the vastness of the endless and ageless universe with his presence; the very God who is the source and author of life itself, this God has spoken. This God has sent us a word: 

And in this Word, earth and heaven meet.

John’s intent in the opening paragraphs of his Gospel is not to give historic details of the Nativity. He doesn’t try to assemble, like Luke, an “orderly account.” He is not, like Matthew, arguing for Jesus’ genealogy and his rightful claim to Messiahship. Rather, John begins with the far-flung vastness of all creation, all wisdom, all knowledge, all life, then out of the wonder of the universe and across the millions of years of created life, an eternal Word is heard, the endless logos: 

“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 anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Not quite as poetic, the Eugene Peterson translation of the verse does give it a “down-to-earth” flair: 

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory; like Father, like Son; generous inside and out; true, from start to finish. 

Here and now, we are bold to believe and proclaim that in this baby, on this day, from the mystery and majesty of the heavens, across the ages of human history, the Word breaks forth—the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. Here and now, earth and heaven meet.

Christmas is, first of all, a theological statement, a statement of belief. 

Halford Luccock, a professor at Yale Divinity School many years ago, said, “Christmas is not something out of Charles Dickens, nor the aroma of steaming plum pudding, nor the twinkle of bells, nor even Tiny Tim. It is not just a festoon to be jammed into a child’s stocking. It is something about the universe. It is the answer to the question ‘What is God like?’”

Christianity has the audacity to claim that this Ultimate Reality which we call God has manifested his nature at a specific time and in a specific place and in a specific Person: Jesus of Nazareth.

Christianity has the audacity to proclaim that God is like an innocent child born of refugee parents under an oppressive regime, like common shepherds hearing choirs of angels, like mysterious Magi contemplating the skies. 

This God comes to us to bridge the great divide between God and man, and in this child, on this day, earth and heaven meet. 

Track the human genome as far as it will go, study the bones of dinosaurs dating back millions of years, follow the path of evolution to the very origins of life, and through it all, if you look closely with the eyes of faith, you will discover the amazing presence of a creative God, the source of all creation. Then listen for the Word which this God has sent: 

He was in the beginning with God and was God; all things are made
through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made… 

And now, this Word becomes flesh, living among us. Christmas is a day about the autobiography of God, how God comes to us. It is the point where earth and heaven meet.

So, yes, Christmas is a theological event, but it is also a very personal event.

Christmas is about the coming of God’s love in the depth of my own inner space, the personal Word coming to you and to me. This is the place where earth and heaven meet. 

God came to us in order to be with us. It’s really that simple. God came to us to be close to us, to understand and unite with us. God came to us because God couldn’t stay away. God came to his broken and imperfect world because he made it, loved it, and called it “very good.” God was born among us to be among us.

Jesus died to save us so that we would be saved. Jesus rose from the dead so that we could live with him. Why did God come to us? Why is God with us in all that we go through? Because God loves us, pure and simple. God made us and calls us his very own. God cannot stay away.

So, when you see your friends and family this Christmas, see the God who loves you. When you miss those long gone, see the God who longs for you. When you see the lights and the decorations, even when you see the candy canes and the inflatable snowmen, know that God chose to be in the world and in your life because God loves you. Know that God was born for you, lived for you, died for you, and rose for you. Know that God cannot bear to leave you. Know that God is always with you. Know that God loves you.

The great news today is that Jesus comes, not just to Bethlehem, but to Tampa as well. He comes, not only to Mary and Joseph, but to every young couple holding their first-born son on his first Christmas—and to first-time grandparents as well. He comes, not only to wandering shepherds in the fields watching their flocks by night, but to tired engineers watching their computer screens by day. He comes, not only to Wise Men of the east who can read the signs and the stars, but to common folk like you and me who hardly have a clue. He comes to you and to me. Right here…right now. This can be the place where earth and heaven meet.

Across the millennia of creation and from the far reaches of the cosmos, throughout time and space, the eternal Word comes to speak to each of us today.

O, holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Immanuel!

Have a merry and blessed Christmas!