On the side of the Road

We call him Emmanuel, “God with us”. We claim that we have seen him and his glory, the glory of the One and Only.  And yet we did not praise him or give him any glory. He came to the stable on the roadside of a Judean town. He did not come to a palace, not to a mansion or a castle, not even to a crowded and unwelcoming inn. He came to a roadside stable. He didn’t come to the rich and the powerful. He didn’t come to the intelligent and the wise nor the popular or the religious of heart. He came to those who were in the margins and in the wilderness to draw them to himself. He came to an unremarkable couple with a simple gift of faith in God and he drew them to that roadside stable with only the hosts of angelic fanfare to announce his arrival.

God came to us and we did not recognize him. We saw the light of glory and we ignored him, thinking that he was of no account. We refused the outstretched hands that had molded our bodies in the depths of the earth and flung stars out into space. He made his tilt amongst us and made his presence manifest on earth so that his light might shine through earth (through us) so it can be seen throughout the earth. The Word was made flesh, going forth from God and he cannot be nullified or voided. He came to that which was his own to accomplish the purpose for which he was sent. There was no one and nothing like him in the entire world but we ignored him. He came to us in flesh and blood that we might learn to be with him and he with us.

The witness of each Christmas that we celebrate is that God had his advent, his coming amongst us. We were driven from the Garden and now he seeks us out on the side of the road. Many are surprised at the nature of the Word and his mission. The joy of the green tree and the presents will soon turn to the grief and sorrow of another tree, rude and bare. The only gift offered will be the life that is needed to make amends. We will be drawn from the lights of the Christmas tree through the darkness of those hours to the light of the first day of the week and the Resurrection.

The witness of each Christmas that we celebrate is that God had his advent, his coming amongst us. We were driven from the Garden and now he seeks us out on the side of the road. Many are surprised at the nature of the Word and his mission. The joy of the green tree and the presents will soon turn to the grief and sorrow of another tree, rude and bare. The only gift offered will be the life that is needed to make amends. We will be drawn from the lights of the Christmas tree through the darkness of those hours to the light of the first day of the week and the Resurrection.

God came to us and we did not recognize him. We saw the light of glory and we ignored him, thinking that he was of no account. We refused the outstretched hands that had molded our bodies in the depths of the earth and flung stars out into space. He made his tilt amongst us and made his presence manifest on earth so that his light might shine through earth (through us) so it can be seen throughout the earth. The Word was made flesh, going forth from God and he cannot be nullified or voided. He came to that which was his own to accomplish the purpose for which he was sent. There was no one and nothing like him in the entire world but we ignored him. He came to us in flesh and blood that we might learn to be with him and he with us.

So this Christmas, take a moment to consider carefully what it is that God has offered you. He has come to you to offer you grace upon grace and has proven in his Son, his Word incarnate what he will do to draw you home again. He was born through the pain and the blood, the joy and the surprise into the muckiness of this human life. And the Word made flesh did it to be completely with us in our humanness and so that he could guide us on the journey home to God. We are invited to return to the stable and to the Garden. Let us make that journey together that we might be with him and he with us, our Emmanuel.