Joy To the World?

What if this was it?
What if Christmas ends today?
No more carols to sing…
trees to decorate…
parties to attend.
No more lavish meals to prepare…
cookies bake…
cards to send…
No more crowds.
No more gifts to purchase, wrap or exchange.
No more last minute you “fill-in-the-blank.”
That’s it… done… finished… we can all go home now. It’s over.

I mean, if these activities are all there is to Christmas… if Christmas ends today… then Christmas is almost like three days in Vegas, isn’t it?

You buy yourself a new outfit
You have some great food…
See a great show…
Stay up too late with friends and family…
Maybe have a few too many cocktails…
And even justify spending the extra money-- I mean after all, you are in Vegas.

But there's more to Christamas isn't there?

The arms of God have extended into our world. The arms of God extend into your world…into your life and touch those places within you that only God can touch… Those places beyond reason, beyond doubt, beyond your control and even beyond your belief those deep places in the core of your being.

Love reaches out… and touches you.

Jesus.

Jesus did not enter the story of our lives to start an institutionalized religion that controls us through rule-keeping, fear and intimidation. Rather his spirituality was one of a God whose love knows no limits and that no one for any reason is beyond the grip of God’s grace and love.

Jesus taught about a God who seeks us like lost sheep who have wandered astray from the care and love of a shepherd and searches for us until we are found. He claimed that God is like a father or mother that waits by the door and watches for a son or daughter’s return home… and at the return throws a lavish party. He explained that when we awaken to God’s presence in our world… in our lives that it is like stumbling across a hidden treasure or finding a priceless pearl that we had been searching for our entire lives.

Everyday of my life I need the God who is revealed and becomes tangible in Jesus. The friend that liberates me from my fears, brokenness, and estrangement from God … The friend who walks with me and bids me to follow him.

Joy to the world the face of God for humanity has come. That something bigger than us…that something more… Became flesh …Dwells among us… and makes its home in us.

Joy to the World.