This month - In this month... - Wise wonder - The greatest miracle

In this month...

  The American poet and author, Carl Sandburg, wrote: ‘Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that that was when the creative mood in them would work.’

  Another person he could have added to the list is Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born on 16th December 1770.  He wrote: ‘You will ask where I find my ideas.  I hardly know.  They come uninvited, directly or indirectly.  I can almost grasp them with my hands in the open air; in the woods while I am walking; in the stillness of the night; early in the morning; called up by the moods which the poet translates into words and I translate into musical tones.  They ring out and roar and swirl about me until I write them down as notes.’

  For personal reflection: God our Father, amid the busy-ness and noise of daily life, I ask you to bring it home to me how much I need time and quiet for myself, in which I can become more attuned with myself and more at one with you, my God.

  As I am then able to grow more in your image and likeness and be re-created, inspire me to be creative and develop to the full the talents that you have given me for the benefit of those people you place into my life. Amen.

Adapted by Helen Little from ‘Praying each day of the year’, by Nicholas Hutchinson.

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Wise wonder

A Babe, a maiden, and a star,
The loveliest of all that are!
No wonder Wise Men from afar
Came, wondering.

And wise they were, in that they knew
It was indeed a King most true;
So they, with those first favoured few,
Knelt, worshipping.

They journeyed far to find a King:
The star that they were following
Led them to this wee Baby Thing -
They were content.

They entered through the lowly door,
They knelt together to adore,
Each offered, in that place so poor,
His own present.

Lest His revealing prove disguise,
Pray we the Lord to make us wise
To open our poor blinded eyes
That we may see.

The royalty of all they saw -
How love fulfils His perfect law,
Choosing the manger and the straw
For you and me.

By Father Andrew (1939), from ‘The Way of Love’, and supplied by Cathie Songer.

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The greatest miracle

  Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes across as a thoughtful young woman.  This most favoured of women seems to have been someone who was not too quick to agree with or to condemn things.  Mary thought deeply about what the angel Gabriel told her. (Lk.1:29)  Her reaction to what the shepherds said, right after Jesus' birth, was to ponder upon their words. (Lk.2:19)  Again, her reaction to what her 12 year old son, Jesus, said and did was to ‘keep all these things in her heart’. (Lk.2:51)

  In the hustle and bustle of Christmas we, too, ought to take time to ponder the meaning of it all.  As another Christmas Day approaches, let's remind ourselves of why the message of Christmas never loses its power to amaze us.

  The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is a basic tenet of Christian belief.  This reminds us that Jesus was so much more than a good teacher with good ideas.  It reminds us that Jesus existed before he was born on this earth.  And it reminds us that he existed, not as an angel or some other mighty being, but as God.  Jesus was God in the flesh: God incarnate.  As the Nicene Creed (381 AD) puts it: ‘We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ who, for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.’

  The coming of God into our world as a baby is the most amazing miracle of all.  It’s greater even than Jesus' resurrection.  Others have been brought back from the dead - such as Lazarus - and Jesus’ followers will be resurrected to eternal life but the Incarnation is unique.
C S Lewis wrote, about the Incarnation: 'The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation.  Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this.  It was the central event in the history of the Earth - the very thing that the whole story has been about'. (Miracles, Chapter 14)

Theologian Wayne Gruden wrote: 'It is by far the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible…The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join himself to a human nature…will remain for eternity the most profound miracle and the most profound mystery in all the universe'. (Systematic Theology (page 563))

  In the Incarnation, the all-powerful, majestic Creator entered time and space and became an embryo.  The true message of Christmas is that the eternal God came to earth in human form to save his own creation.  It was a necessity, because unconverted people are mired in sin.

God took the initiative.  Jesus came to resolve the situation.  His love wouldn't let us go.  He pursued us even to the desolate anguish of the cross.  It's called love and it's unique to Christianity.  No wonder the books of Matthew and Luke begin by emphasising the wonder of the Incarnation.

  Only Christians have the audacity to claim that their founder and leader was both God and man.  John 1:1 - 14 speaks of the pre-existence of the One who was born as Jesus in Bethlehem: 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth'. (John 1:14)

  And this event includes you and me - 'Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God'. (John 1:12)

  If Jesus was not God, he couldn't save us.  If he was not human, he couldn't pay our penalty for us.  We may not understand it, but our salvation depends on Jesus being both God and human.

  As a perfectly righteous human, and as our Creator, Jesus could pay for everyone's sins through his one sacrifice.  There is a passage in the letter to the Philippians which appears to be a song in celebration of Jesus' willingness to humble himself for our salvation. (Phil.2:5-8)

  The Christmas story puts Jesus firmly at the centre of worship.
  The Christmas story is at the heart of the Christian message.
  The Christmas season affords us a wonderful opportunity to explain the Gospel to unbelievers.

  To cite the pagan origin and trappings of Christmas and to point to the debt, drunkenness, immorality and the commercialism which are too often associated with Christmas, as reasons to downplay or even ignore Christmas is to miss the point.  These issues are merely the dispensable trappings of Christmas.

  The central issue remains - the birth of the Son of God.  Even the issue of whether or not Jesus was actually born on 25th December is, largely, irrelevant.  It's the day which the Christian world has chosen to celebrate his birth.  It may be helpful to think of Christmas Day as Jesus' official birthday.  Let's not 'throw out the baby Jesus with the bathwater of unChristian activities.

  Whatever else you do this Christmas, make room for Jesus.  Find time to praise and worship our wonderful Saviour.  Take the time to ponder the message of Christmas. Remember the extraordinary length he went to in order to redeem us.  Remember his undying love for you.

  Let the wonder of the Incarnation amaze and thrill you.

By Bill Allan.