Imagine if you will, Christmas day,
more than 2000 years ago in the village of Bethlehem. Do you feel the crisp
early morning air?
Do you smell the
animals and the hay?
Listen.
Do you hear the newborn crying?
Can you see Mary, seated on the floor of the
stable, holding her tiny son?
Can you
see her rock back and forth, back and forth to quiet her tiny babe?
Now let your imagination
fast-forward thirty years to a barren land.
Do you hear the voice of John the Baptist crying out in the
wilderness?
“Make straight the way for
the Lord,” he calls to any who will listen.
Now that the crying baby is grown, his cousin John cries for the
repentance of his people.
Think forward again, three more
years.
This time it is the mother of
Jesus who cries.
She kneels and weeps at
the foot of a rugged Roman cross.
High
above her is the broken body of her baby boy.
The tiny babe is grown and men have nailed him on this cross.
She cries for her suffering, dying son.
Imagine three days later.
Now those bitter tears and agonizing cries
have turned to miraculous cries of joy.
The son who was crucified on a cross is no longer in the tomb.
He is alive!
Once again, let your mind move
ahead, many years.
Zoom in your
imagination the last few weeks.
Think
about your preparations for Christmas.
Did you spend many exhausting hours shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning,
and baking?
Did you cry in anger,
frustration, or fatigue?
Remember, the babe who cried in the
manger is the same Lord who died on the cross.
He died, was resurrected, and is alive.
He is the same Lord who takes away our sins so that we, too, may live
with Him forever in heaven.
Once again, we hear crying, the
crying of our hearts.
We cry,
remembering our sins.
We cry in
repentance, preparing our hearts for His coming in our lives.
We cry in grief, remembering His sacrifice.
We cry in joy, recognizing His resurrected
life in us and anticipating eternity.
We
cry tears of delight, for we realize that even though all the shopping and
wrapping are not yet finished, we are, finally, truly ready for Christmas.
Father, may we never overlook the
reason for the celebration.
In all the
busyness and scurrying, let us remember and reflect on the miracle of our
Lord’s birth in a lowly stable.
May we
consider our Lord’s sacrifice.
Let us
cry tears of repentance and gratefulness, remembering the greatest Christmas
gift.
We have worked hard preparing to
celebrate Christmas. May we work just as hard to prepare for His birth and life
in our hearts.
May this precious new
life within us cry out joyfully for all to hear.
