A Christmas story
This is from a sermon I heard a long time ago. The last paragraph is my own humble addition.
There was an atheist man whose wife was a Christian. He didn't mind that his wife took their children to church, but he never went with them. He'd even prefer to spend Christmas Eve by himself for a few hours, rather than, as he put it, watch some dumb children's play and listen to another boring sermon.
One year, he was again alone at home on Christmas Eve while his wife and children went to services. With the back yard light on, he could see the snow starting to come down. Then he noticed a group of several small birds hopping around the ground, unable to fly against the snowflakes. Maybe they were late in migrating and got lost, or they couldn't find their way back to their home tree. Either way, they needed shelter quickly or would surely die.
So the man ran outside to his shed, opened its door, and turned on a lamp he had inside. But the birds still moved around on the snow-brushed ground, not noticing the light.
The man said to himself, "Oh, if only I could become a bird so I could show them the way!"
At that moment, Christ's mission made perfect sense to him. Falling to his knees, he cried out, "God forgive me!"
A common verse quoted at Christmastime is Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." But let us also remember John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." The Word, meaning Christ, took upon himself a mortal body -- God himself became a man, humbling himself and taking upon the position of a servant, the scriptures tell us elsewhere, so that He could show men the way.
There was an atheist man whose wife was a Christian. He didn't mind that his wife took their children to church, but he never went with them. He'd even prefer to spend Christmas Eve by himself for a few hours, rather than, as he put it, watch some dumb children's play and listen to another boring sermon.
One year, he was again alone at home on Christmas Eve while his wife and children went to services. With the back yard light on, he could see the snow starting to come down. Then he noticed a group of several small birds hopping around the ground, unable to fly against the snowflakes. Maybe they were late in migrating and got lost, or they couldn't find their way back to their home tree. Either way, they needed shelter quickly or would surely die.
So the man ran outside to his shed, opened its door, and turned on a lamp he had inside. But the birds still moved around on the snow-brushed ground, not noticing the light.
The man said to himself, "Oh, if only I could become a bird so I could show them the way!"
At that moment, Christ's mission made perfect sense to him. Falling to his knees, he cried out, "God forgive me!"
A common verse quoted at Christmastime is Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." But let us also remember John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." The Word, meaning Christ, took upon himself a mortal body -- God himself became a man, humbling himself and taking upon the position of a servant, the scriptures tell us elsewhere, so that He could show men the way.
posted by Perry Eidelbus at
10:05 PM
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