Skip to main content

CHRISTMAS MEANS GOD WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES


Soon many of us will be doing those things that signal the approach of Christmas – shopping, sending cards, buying and decorating trees and hosting friends and family.  With so much to do during this time of year, it's easy to forget what Christmas really means.

I know – that's a cliché.  It's true, though.

Take a few moments with me in this article and consider what God did to make Christmas a reality for us.

Christmas is all about God entering the world as a human being and starting were we all start – as a baby.

Granted, many of us have heard about the baby Jesus being God-in-the-flesh.  How often have we stopped and actually thought about what that meant for God?

Quite frankly, birth doesn't look like a very pleasant experience.  God went through that.  Why?

Babies often have runny noses.  Did God have a runny nose?  I believe that Christmas says, “Yes.”  It doesn't seem like a very dignified thing for the Creator of the universe to have.  Why would God go through that?

Babies grow up into children, and children grow up into adults.  The transition can sometimes be awkward.  Can you picture God as a teenager?  Somehow, I have a very hard time picturing God as a sixteen-year-old.  Christmas says, “Picture it!”  Why would God go through that?

Adults go to work.  Jesus went to work.  Jesus was a carpenter.  Carpenters hammer nails.  Carpenters often miss.  God-in-the-flesh knew the pain of a hammer.  Why would God go through that?

(Maybe you're asking yourself right now, “Being fully divine as well as fully human, was it even possible for Jesus to miss a nail when hammering?”  Let me just say: You're thinking way too theologically at this point!)

Why would God go through any of what it meant to become fully human?

The answer to that question turns out to be very simple: God wants us to know how much we are loved by God and how much God wants to have a relationship with us.

We're humans.  We understand things on a human level.  To communicate with us in a way we could comprehend, God became one of us.  In so doing, God experienced things that we might consider below God’s dignity – the shock of birth, the discomfort of a cold and the blow of a hammer, just to name a few.    God is willing to do whatever it takes for us to have a clear picture of what God is like – a picture we find in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  (Yes, God is even willing to go to the length of experiencing death for us!)

As you wish people a merry Christmas this year, pause and reflect on why any of us should be merry this time of year.  Christmas means that God is reaching out to you – whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you've done, whatever you haven't done – and is willing to do whatever it takes to bring you close – all through the One whose birth is at the very heart of the Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!  God is willing to do whatever it takes to forgive you, claim you and change your life in amazing ways – whatever it takes!  Come and celebrate this incredible reality at the Newtown United Methodist Church this Christmas and all year long!

Pastor Blaik Westhoff

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?   CONSIDER THE FOUR L’S! The mission statement of the Newtown United Methodist Church is “Helping Christians Grow and Growing New Christians.”   This statement raises a very important question: What does it mean to be a Christian?   Arriving at a shared understanding of what makes a Christian a Christian is crucial for us at NUMC if we’re going to fulfill our mission! One understanding of what it means to be a Christian is that a Christian is a disciple of Jesus.   The word “disciple” is based on a word which means “a pupil of a teacher” or, simply, “a learner.”   Jesus said that we are to be making disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20).   Another understanding of what it means to be a Christian is that a Christian is one who follows Jesus.   Jesus also said that we are meant to follow him (see Matthew 16:24-26).    Another understanding is that a Christian is a miniature version of Jesus or “a little...
Post a Comment
Read more

DUST, DEATH AND DISCIPLESHIP

Lent is that forty-day period before Easter that many churches have set aside as a time of reflection upon Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and our response to that sacrifice.   Lent, basically, is a season of spiritual inventory. In Genesis 2:4b-7, we read how God created us out of dust.   In Genesis 3:1-19, we read how we will return to that dust.   Physically speaking, our origin and our destination are one and the same – dust! Do you know that household dust is made up mostly of the discarded skin cells of the occupants of that house?   Sometime, when you’re brave and you can handle a sobering dose of biblical reality, lift up the bedspread from where it touches the floor, get on your hands and knees and stare your mortality square in the face! Doing so is part of what Lent is all about.   That’s why some people have cross-shaped smears of ashes put on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday.   Those smears are a reminder that we are all returning t...
Post a Comment
Read more
30, 60, 90 AND BEYOND! What is the best way for a new pastor to get started in a congregation?   That’s a question I’ve been asking myself quite a bit since I moved to the Newtown United Methodist Church! There are many ways to answer that question.   One is answer is that the best way to get started is to make some big decisions shortly after arriving so the people in your congregation realize that the new pastor is a decisive leader.   Another answer is that the best way to get started is to quickly begin a new program (which is guaranteed to be a success) so people realize that the new pastor is effective at making things happen.   Another answer is to rapidly make changes where needed while the “Honeymoon Effect” is still in full swing so as to get the maximum strategic leverage from the start up period. My answer is to that question is a little different from those above.   Even though my hope and prayer is that you will realize that I am an e...
Post a Comment
Read more