A Christmas Message (originally published 1980s)

Today's Word Of Encouragement From Wayne:

Earlier this year I went to Israel with a small group of about 50 people.  One evening, while we were staying in Jerusalem, we boarded our bus, with candles in hand, and went out to the nearby Shepherds Field in Bethlehem for a starlight worship service.  As we sang and praised the name of our Creator together, with uplifted hands and candles brightly burning, the same rejoicing overtook our spirits that was present on a certain night almost two thousand years ago when an innumerable host of angels appeared at that very spot to a few surprised and frightened shepherds saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased" (Luke 2:14).

This small band of men soon found the object of the angel's jubilation wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger that was nothing more than the trough which the livestock fed from in the cave where Joseph and Mary had taken refuge.  This birth signaled a new age for man:  an age in which the exact character and heart of God would be revealed on the world stage like never before.  This would be a new age in which the problem of evil, loneliness, and separation from God would be mended for those who had eyes to see and ears to hear.

The angels rejoiced.  They had seen the centuries of suffering, hardship, hatred, and mistrust.  They had watched the spirit of man become warped through an ignorance of God.  They rejoiced for they had witnessed the pain in God's own heart that so few would steadfastly believe in His goodness and unreservedly entrust themselves into His care.  He had kept the message alive over the years through the occasional prophet who dared to live in communion with the Almighty, and through the handful of others who had the courage to glimpse His eternal purpose in their lives.  But now the angels rejoiced for they knew this birth of the Word being made flesh would be Immanuel, "God with us," to all the people.

Things would be different now.  God was sending His Son, the Only Begotten Who would plainly reveal to the world the love the Father.  His Son would, through His own life, dispel the fears of those who projected their own insecurities onto their image of Yahweh.  This Son would demonstrate time and again that he had come to "proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).  This would be a Son in whom the whole world would be able to clearly witness the divine and all encompassing love of God for the dearest of His own creation - man.

Back in the cave at Bethlehem, the shepherds found the baby just as the angels had said they would.  They stared at this newborn child and tried to understand the angel's proclamation.  As they went their own way the Scripture says that, "All who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds."  There was incomprehension.  This was too fantastic to believe, especially in the light of the world situation.  Years of Roman occupation and degradation, and in the midst of a humiliating census in which every single Jew had to move his whole family back to the place of his tribal origin; in this setting they were asked to believe that God was coming to set them free?  It didn't make sense, and as Jesus grew up and at last broke forth upon the scene with His Gospel, He was met more often than not with open unbelief and outright hostility.  If God was bringing salvation, where had He been up till now?  Why had He allowed so much suffering?  Why had the prayers of His "chosen ones" gone so long unanswered?  This new message of deliverance just didn't coincide with the god the Israelites had come to know through the past decades.  What were they supposed to do, act as if their suffering were just a dream, drop everything and all of a sudden thank God for coming to the midnight rescue?

As this little baby lay in Bethlehem, which means "house of bread," in a manger, which means "feeding trough." He who was to declare Himself to be the "bread of life" was quiet now.  First He would have to grow, learn to walk and talk, go through schooling, work as an apprentice in His step-father's carpentry shop, and all the while the laments of His people would be issuing upward to heaven day after day.  Finally, after His physical maturation, He would be able to begin.  Up until that point He would not be ready to share His message and life with the world.  Salvation was coming but time was needed in order for the Savior to become fully formed.

Hopefully the world would also see that, while there may never be a satisfactory explanation for evil, perhaps it too had to wait until the proper time for its prayers to be answered.  Maybe the apparent delay was  necessary so that the world might come to the awareness, not of the evil without, but of the latent evil that lurks within every human heart.  The evil that hates others, wishes tragedy upon its enemies, and lives within a cocoon of abject self-centeredness.  Perhaps this time of unanswered prayer was a necessary ingredient, so that when the answer came there would be a conscious knowledge of the need for deliverance; not from the Romans, but from the far more insidious internal forces that occupy and ravage the heart and soul of every man.

On that night in Bethlehem so long ago, men could only wonder.  They were glad for the angelic appearance but they did not understand its substance.  There was joy and rejoicing, for great things had happened, but there was also an ignorance about what it all meant.

Thirty-three years later as this baby who was now a man hung tattered and beaten upon a bloody cross at Calvary and uttered with His last breath "It is finished," it all became clear.  He had completed His work.  He had fulfilled His mission.  Not only had He revealed the unconditional love of God to all, but He had also willingly taken the place of fallen man upon the executioner's block, receiving in His body the penalty due us all.  Jesus didn't die so we would feel ashamed, although well we might, but so we could at last, through His sacrifice, find our own way out of despair and helplessness into the kingdom of His love.  Through His life, death, and subsequent resurrection, the door was opened wide for us to come into a new way of living; a new life which does not depend upon us but upon Him.  A new life that does not curse the darkness of the world but instead lights a solitary candle of loving kindness and compassion.  A new life in which we can know a power higher than us Who sets us free into a world where mercy and justice rule.

Look not unto your own experience.  Judge not God according to your own suffering.  Don't allow your heart to be ruled by the cynical attitude of one who sees only the injustices of life.  Realize instead that the time of viewing the difficulties and trials of this age has been necessary in order for you to want a better way.  It has been needed so you might fully appreciate the gift in the hands of the Savior.  Your pain and depth of anguish will be met with a surpassing capacity of joy and delight as you allow the babe of Bethlehem to reside in the manger of your own heart. No suffering comes to you except that it will be met with an exceeding supply of new vision, healing, and joy.  May your heart be willing to receive the birth of Christ your Savior and may the passage of time only serve to bring you into a deeper appreciation of His life and love. Hallelujah!