Christmas is one of the radically “never-thought-it-could-happen” works of God. Think about it – a virgin is pregnant, a stable becomes a birthing room, a gazillion angels sing in the sky, and government officials actually seek out the child who is the Christ! And that’s just the beginning of the miracle list. For sure, that first Christmas was a God-thing for the ages!
And that’s what I long to see again – a God-thing for the ages! You know, the power of Pentecost. The excitement of Easter. Can you imagine? Oh, to be part of a miracle of that magnitude. Wow! That’s what I thirst for!
What I often don’t want is what necessarily accompanies a “never-thought-it-could-happen” God-thing. The fear of looking foolish, the dread of getting messy, the need to sacrifice personally – those were all elements in the Nativity (i.e., the circumstances surrounding this “never-thought-it-could-happen” God-thing). Perhaps that’s why I’m not often enough smack dab in the middle of ginormous God-things. Maybe that’s why you’re not either.
For many of us, a God-thing for the ages would be too frightening. Too risky. Too consuming. So we continue on in today’s casually comfortable, 21st century version of first-century Christianity, too scared to actually admit we long deep down for a Christmas-type event that would shatter our safe world into a million pieces. And that’s what Christmas did. And my, how our souls needed it!
Some will criticize me for wanting the grand and glorious. And some will mistake my thirst for the miraculous as a bad spiritual appetite, accusing me of being insensitive to the little miracles that happen every day. So be it. God knows my heart, and how it simply aches to see his power unleashed in a way that cannot be explained, only experienced. It can’t be figured out, only submitted to. Without apology I want to see a “never-thought-it-could-happen” God-thing for the ages.
I want to see Christmas again.
2 comments:
I'll join you in your longing for the "never-thought-it-could-happen" works of God. Why should we settle for mediocracy as a 21st century Christian? Are we not filled with the same Holy Spirit that filled Peter as he preached at Pentecost? Does the God of the Bible not dwell in the hearts of those who are saved and called out by His name?
I like the direction and new look of your blog! I think the Spirit will be working more and more through the Church (if we ask him) as we near the Last Day. I too long for a transformed life! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!
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