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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Devotion: A Christmas Carol?

A Christmas Carol



In the Gospel of Luke, Mary sings about God: “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty …”

These lyrics do not really seem to fit with the cuddly baby Jesus that many of our nativity scenes depict. Mary, pregnant with her son, anticipates that God will bring the proud, the rulers and the rich down. The first Christmas was not the time of excess, indulgence and extravagance that we often now expect; rather it was a time of transformation.

A time when God, the creator of all things, humbled himself and took on human flesh. This is more than a birthday celebration; this is a celebration of a historical, social, and spiritual transformation. The old order has gone, and a new order is breaking into our lives in the lowliest and most unexpected ways…a baby.

As we anticipate the birth of Christ this year, what are the ways in which you are experiencing God’s transformative love? Where have you seen God restoring the broken? Filling the hungry? It is my hope that as we draw near to that silent night in Bethlehem, we may recognize God’s work in our lives and the world around us.



Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Wes Barry

1 comment:

Unknown said...

REV Barry, eh?

What I thought of when I read this: it kinda sends a torpedo toward our "low-church, happy-birthday-Jesus celebrations" and I'm not at all disappointed. Yeah, we need to get kids engaged, but when engaging kids becomes the lowest-common-denominator philosophy of our ministry and worship at Christmas, we're in trouble.

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