God's Gift

Frequently, the only time I have to myself is when I am rocking my daughter, Molly, to sleep. The day is usually filled with things that must be done, so when I take the time to pray over her, although I’ve chatted with God all day long, our long conversations come at this time at night.
Tonight, Christmas night, is no different. It is the first time of the holiday, save for a quick communion while I tried to keep my kids quiet, that I’ve had to reflect on this awesome gift we were given.
It is a story no human would ever think to tell. It goes like this.
Once upon a time, before there was even time, there was a God made up of three. God the father, and his son, and his spirit. God’s son was with him before time. Through God’s son, all things were made, and he helped God make everything in the world. Including humans. (That’s us). It didn’t take long before we began mucking things up. Although God gives us everything we need, it doesn’t matter the time, place or event, we take Satan’s bait almost every time. We are suckers for his sweet talk. We both men and women, all humans, buy into his lies. And his tricks have cost us our very lives. God made it where his tricks could be cleansed through an animal sacrifice. Through blood. But, before too long, the sins were so many that there weren’t enough animals or blood to cleanse us. We needed a godly sacrifice. The catch? Our God, his son and the spirit couldn’t be sacrificed. They were spirits: immortal, intangible, and almost beyond our understanding. And, without this sacrifice, humans were completely doomed. (This is hard for many people to accept: That we cannot save ourselves. Just think of karma and all of the world’s religions that say you can save yourself. Don’t believe it. It’s a lie. One of the many Satan tells.) So, somehow, I am not sure if it is God’s idea or his son’s, but God figures out a way to actually save us from this awful mess. He doesn’t tell anyone. Maybe just his son. He probably whispers his plan to Jesus in a place so secret, no other being can hear. He can’t risk Satan finding out. The plan is that Jesus would come into the earth as a human, and leave his spirit form, his all knowing place in heaven, where everything is perfect to come to earth and look through the myopic eyes of man. He does this by becoming a baby, and being born through as innocent of a girl as God can find. She is the best available, and yet no one has noticed her, save her betrothed, Joseph. And, of course, because God can see into the hearts of men, God has noticed her kindness, her compassion, her sweet and tender heart. He trusts her to care for his son. And, so, Jesus is born in a manager. Mary and Joseph can’t find a room, so he is born in a barn.

So, the sweet baby in the barn, born to a poor woman and her carpenter husband, is our salvation. From the God who made the ocean tides, the moon, who positioned the earth so it wouldn’t spin right off its axis has come up with a plan like this. He trusts his ‘only begotten son’ to a pauper’s wife? Implausible. Unbelievable. Shocking. Scandalous. I love it! I believe it. It is a crazy plan, for lack of a better word, a hail mary that he knows is going to work, because hidden in the belly of a sweet girl, is the infant who is going to save the world. The sacrifice, the blood, the beatings, the healings, the miracles…all that comes later. But, on Christmas, everyone just focuses on the miracle of God in flesh, A king who rejects heavenly treasures to embrace a hay-filled manager, and the care of a young girl. Heaven is about Christmas. About the peaceful moment when God, newly born, was held and loved and cared for by a human. A vulnerable, sweet crying newborn who will save us all. The details, the horror, and the sacrifice that redeemed us all is gut wrenching. But, as you read this tonight, just picture sweet baby Jesus in his mother’s arms, and quietly say a prayer of thanksgiving that God was willing, after all we had mucked up, to trust one of us with his son. Be thankful that God was willing to send such an extravagant gift; and that that gift was so willing to participate.