Friday, December 30

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John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We come today to the last piece of the nativity scene to be packed away – the baby Jesus.

One of our baby Jesus figures – one from an African nativity scene – looks to be lying on a mat made from straw. The figure is wrapped from waist to knees and has very thin elongated limbs. He also has a very long neck – causing baby Jesus to look a bit like an alien – which, in a way, of course, he was.

The second figure – this one from the crèche from Israel – looks like a tiny adult. He has a full head of hair and his arms are stretched out as if reaching for a hug or offering a blessing. When the figure is placed into the straw filled manger properly, the lines carved around his head make it appears as if beams of light are radiating from him.

Each of these tiny figures communicates something beautiful about this child. He is alien in a way; he is not from this world. He comes to us from eternity itself as John says to open his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

He did come to stretch out his arms to us – in love, in blessing, and in sacrifice.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:14

And he does embody and radiate the very glory of God himself.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being… Hebrews 1:3

One of my favorite authors says it this way:

The Word become flesh. Ultimate mystery born with a skull you could crush one-handed. Incarnation. It is not tame. It is not touching. It is not beautiful. It is uninhabitable terror. It is unthinkable darkness riven with unbearable light. Agonizing labor led to it, vast upheavals of intergalactic space, time split apart, a wrenching of the sinews of reality itself. You can only cover your eyes and shudder before it, before this: “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God … who for us and our salvation,” as the Nicene Creed puts it, “came down from heaven.”  Frederick Buechner, from “Whistling in the Dark”

The word became flesh.

Ultimate mystery.

Incarnation.

But the question is, “Do we put him back in the box?” Do we pack him away for another year to dwell with the strings of lights and boxes of ornaments?

Look at what the Apostle Paul says about where Jesus wants to dwell:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power though his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19

Paul is telling us that Jesus came not just to give us a nice story to celebrate; or a wonderful cultural holiday; but rather, he came to interrupt our world; to break into our lives; to make his dwelling in our hearts; and he came to stay.

So as you prepare to take down and pack away all your Christmas decorations; the tree, the ornaments, the lights, and yes, even the nativity scenes, take a few moments before you put the baby in the manger back in the storage bin.

Take a few moments and look at the tiny figure. This is how far God came to demonstrate his love for you. The God of eternal glory took on the humility of skin and breath and hair in order that we would know he is with us. And then he gave us the greatest gifts of all – the gift of eternal life through his Son and the gift of His Spirit to dwell in our hearts by faith.

You may pack the crèche away – but may Jesus remain King of your heart!

Pastor Brian Coffey