by Rev Douglas Brauner

Christmas: Where the Secular World Meets God’s Kingdom

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

When you wait for something to come along, you might sit tight longer than you anticipated.

I had positioned myself to take this picture thinking that I would see one train pass along the rails. I visualized the train in motion, not static, so I chose a slow shutter speed to capture that feeling of movement. However, instead of one train passing by me, I bagged two.

Two trains collide today as we celebrate Christmas, or rather, two worlds collide: the world of Santa and world of Jesus, the world of getting and the world of giving, the world of strife and the world of peace. That’s what happens when God comes to us in human flesh. We can no longer ignore the God who created this world and who now comes to pitch his tent with us. We can no longer ignore the impact this baby has on our lives.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 English Standard Version

The world of Saint Nick represents our achievements. He rewards those who are good, and gives coal to those who are bad. In other words, the world of Santa is all about us. The world of Jesus is for us, not about us. All of us would be on the naughty list had it not been for Jesus and his sacrifice for us.

We do not declare ourselves good, God does through the gift of the baby given for us. This gift radically changes our world and changes our lives. Today we celebrate the hope, joy and peace that comes in the baby. We celebrate not because he is a baby, but because he fulfilled the will of his Father by dying on a cross for us.

Two worlds collide today. Thanks be to God that his world wins.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado