Praise the
Lord for times of visitation. It began when the Lord of the Universe decided to
visit this earth. That all caused Mary to visit Elizabeth, and the shepherds
and Magi to visit Jesus, the Newborn King. So too we all get to visit and
celebrate. Eugene Peterson captures the gist of Christmas event, "Look, look.
God has moved to our neighborhood". WOW. At Christmas the God, who is up there, came
to join us down here. He played on our field.
Søren Kierkegaard the Danish Philosopher and theologian, told it this way.
There once was a mighty king who from a distance fell in love with a humble
maiden. He was a mighty king! Every statesman in the world trembled in awe of
him. No one dared speak a word against this king, who could crush nations with
his power. Yet the heart of this mighty ruler melted with love for a humble
maiden. Oddly enough, it was his kingliness which tied his hands. If he
brought her to the palace, crowned her head with costly jewels and bedecked her
in royal robes, of course she would not resist, because no one dared resist
him. But would she love him?
Of course,
she would say she loved him, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in
fear, privately grieving for the life she left behind? Would she be happy at
his side? How could he know her true feelings? If he rode up to her cottage in
the forest accompanied by an armed escort, with bright banners flying, that
would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject; he wanted a lover, an
equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden, and
to let their shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love
that those who are unequal become equal. So the king clothed himself in
beggar's rags and slipped unnoticed through the palace gates. He walked the
roads. He tilled the fields. And later in a marketplace, still in his tattered
clothes, his hands now calloused from rough work, he bumped into her and
introduced himself. Then he wooed and won the hand of this servant girl. On
their wedding day he whispered in her ear, "My dear beloved, you are now a
queen." And they were wed in royal splendor, and lived blissfully ever after as
King and Queen.
That is
the miraculous tale of Christmas. The King of Heaven fell in love with his
bride, the church, and humbled himself so that he might win her love.
His gateway into the world was a feeding trough in
a stable. Perhaps if we focus on the manger, God will wrap his hand
around around our homes and carry us back to that time of a stable and a star,
and turn us into wise men and shepherds and disciples, just as if we were in the
greatest tale of all.
We all
know that best stories take place at night and that baby was born at night.
The angels serenaded from heaven at night. Joseph had his dream at night. So
John wrote in his gospel that the Christ-child came as a light into our
darkness. As Simon Tugwell has pointed out, in Jesus God was pursuing us in our
night, so when we tried to run away we ran right into his arms. We all need to
run into His arms where we have come home at last... where we are safe and
secure for ever and ever... Blessed be His Name. O come all ye faithful..
Joyful and triumphant.
In
Him,
Brown
