Thoughts regarding the Christmas Story

I just want to share this email that I received this morning...

"For many, this story is so out of place with the dominant Christmas "spirit" in our culture that it is best just to ignore it. But for those of us who believe that this young girl having a baby is also the story of God being born into the world, we cannot afford to ignore it. It means that instead of coming like we might imagine with displays of power and undeniable proofs of his existence, this God sneaks up on us, comes to us where we least expect it. It means that instead of compelling us to believe and obey, God comes to us in such a small way that we can ignore him if we choose. He makes himself vulnerable to us and asks us to follow him. It means that this God is not distant or removed, immune to all of our pain and the mess we are making of his world. It means that God has come very close, close enough to touch, close enough to bewounded by us, right into the very lowest parts of our experience as human beings—pain, rejection, brokenness, death. He is not just a 'God-over-us,' but an Immanuel, a 'God-with-us.'

For those of us who accept this story as true, it must redefine the way we look at the world. When we look at the strange nativity scene with the poor family and their visitors who are outcasts and foreigners, we are given a glimpse of God's perspective. If we are going to recognize God when He shows up, then we have to realize that God comes into the world in such as these. We are going to have to learn to notice those who we might otherwise pass by, whether they are on the street, in our neighborhoods, or in our workplaces. We are going to have to see with different eyes and hear with different ears and love with bigger hearts.

And to those of us who feel that we are the empty, the broken, that our lives are full of shame, to every single one of us, this strange story tells us that weare not left to ourselves. We are loved. We are precious. God would go to such great lengths to be with us. And when he came to rescue us, he came as one of us—vulnerable and breakable, just like we are.

So, let's consider that if this outrageous thing is true—this baby who in one lifetime would be a refugee, a homeless man, an executed prisoner. If God comes to us like this, then maybe we are all wrong about what we think is important. If this story is true, maybe it changes everything."

Rachel Tulloch is a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Toronto, Canada.