Today, as we celebrate the birth of Christ and hear the story of the Nativity once again, we are reminded of the birth of babies in our own families. It may have been our own children or a niece or nephew, or maybe a grandchild. If you’ve held a baby in your arms, you know their power. Once they’re in our midst, we melt. We see their innocence and goodness. We hear their gurgles and attempts to speak and know they are trying to say our name. We see their eyes so focused on us as if we’re the only person in the world. We love the moments when we can make them laugh. They are so fragile and completely vulnerable in our arms and they somehow trust us to take good care of them.
As we heard in last week’s wonderful reflection for the fourth Sunday of Advent, the sign given to Ahaz was “the virgin giving birth to a son.” In a world fraught with wars and violence of all kinds, He comes. In a world where markets filled with Christmas shoppers in Berlin can become the scene of terrorism, He comes. In a world filled with political agendas and those who are only out to amass wealth in whatever way they can obtain it, He comes. On our earth that has been abused and destroyed without thinking of the world we are leaving for the next generations, He comes. At a time when so many your African American men are being incarcerated or killed on our city streets, He comes. In a world where people live without water or heat while other squander their resources, He comes. In a world where so many are treated unjustly just because of who they are, He comes. He doesn’t come as a politician or military leader, a CEO or a philanthropist. He’s not coming as a powerful big brother (or sister) to beat up the bullies in our world.
No, he comes a little vulnerable baby. His name is Emmanuel, God is with us, and he comes to overthrow the world with the greatest power…His love. Can we do the same?
As we heard in last week’s wonderful reflection for the fourth Sunday of Advent, the sign given to Ahaz was “the virgin giving birth to a son.” In a world fraught with wars and violence of all kinds, He comes. In a world where markets filled with Christmas shoppers in Berlin can become the scene of terrorism, He comes. In a world filled with political agendas and those who are only out to amass wealth in whatever way they can obtain it, He comes. On our earth that has been abused and destroyed without thinking of the world we are leaving for the next generations, He comes. At a time when so many your African American men are being incarcerated or killed on our city streets, He comes. In a world where people live without water or heat while other squander their resources, He comes. In a world where so many are treated unjustly just because of who they are, He comes. He doesn’t come as a politician or military leader, a CEO or a philanthropist. He’s not coming as a powerful big brother (or sister) to beat up the bullies in our world.
No, he comes a little vulnerable baby. His name is Emmanuel, God is with us, and he comes to overthrow the world with the greatest power…His love. Can we do the same?