Once again, it is Advent. In a swirl of happy, sometimes frantic preparations, we ready our homes and our families for Christmas. Boxes appear out of the attic. Gifts appear under the tree. Foods are prepared. In my house, on the Rosales side of the family, we prepare tamales. Among the Lindquists we make a kind of sausage and ready ourselves for lutefisk. And sometimes when our families do things together we might serve a tamal with a side of lutefisk on the same plate!
It is strange enough. But something far more unusual is at work at Christmas time, just beneath the surface of things. Something infinitely extraordinary. Something absolutely unique. God has become a human being. The universe itself can never be the same.
Have you noticed?
I picture, sometimes, the angels of God standing at the elbow of the Father Almighty as he elaborates his plan for the salvation of the world and piece-by-piece reveals it. They might have anticipated, I think, a starring role. Wouldn t it be natural to send them out in impressive legions to battle the enemy and recapture our wandering race? But the Father revealed a different sort of plan a plan so astounding that the angels themselves could not have foreseen it. I picture the angels leaning in close, watching carefully and listening eagerly. Things were afoot into which angels long to look, we are told (1 Peter 1:12). I can picture it.
What is astounding today is that we may breeze through the Christmas season, serve our lutefisk and tamales, etc., with nary a shudder of wonder at the utter miracle of it all. A shudder of wonder? The Incarnation of God should thrill us to the core, I think, if we understood the power and scope of the miracle. But we clear the table, remove the tree, put away the boxes and wait again for another round next year. Angels long to look into the wonder of Bethlehem. Do we?
We do, of course, at some basic level if we quiet our hearts for a moment and permit ourselves a bit of honest self-reflection. Most people do and all around the world. Human beings everywhere long to look into God s provision for hope and wholeness. They long to look into God s remedy for death and sin. The world itself is longing. That is why we pray, and give and sometimes go.
Let s point the world to Jesus!