Don't Forget the Baby!
My family had a pretty cool nativity set when I was kid. It was made of wood and had some incredible synthetic moss hanging from it that stayed remarkably and alarmingly green, year after year. The little porcelain figures especially captured my attention: Mary and Joseph, the Magi, but the real stars of the shows in my childhood imagination – were the animals!
I remember that the nativity included an angel, and a rough little manger, but can’t remember if there was a baby Jesus in the manger or not. The animals were just so much fun to play with!
Despite going to a Christian school, participating in annual Christmas pageants, and diligently memorizing Luke 2, I somehow hadn’t realized that Jesus was really what the story - and the season - was all about. I thought it was cool animals and the Sears catalog. I forgot the baby!
Hundreds of years ago, church reformer Martin Luther put it this way, “Scripture is the manger in which Christ lies.” And if I might add to that, “Don’t forget the Baby!” Because the Bible is SO amazing in its breadth, depth, literary beauty, usefulness, memorability, not to mention the fact that it’s the actual Word of God - we can sometimes forget that the whole purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus. We can become so fascinated by the stories and the characters - much like my kid self with the porcelain figures - that we can get a little fuzzy on what it’s all about.
Here it is: it’s the baby. It’s Jesus.
Have you ever witnessed a new parent, or proud grandpa or grandma go into full baby talk mode while holding an infant? Sometimes they’ll say something like, “I could just eat you up!” to a tiny child. It’s almost as if their love for that newborn is so filling their whole heart, but they still want more of it. (Best interpretation, otherwise, it’s a pretty wild thing to say!)
God wants us to have this same attitude toward Jesus. Especially to the newborn King at Christmas time. “I could just eat you up!” My heart is full and I still can’t get enough of Jesus!
So, friends, don’t get distracted by what we do around Elmhurst CRC this time of year.
Enjoy the music, and look beyond it.
Enjoy the parties and the fun, but see through them.
Enjoy the fantastic food and warm drinks, but stay hungry for more.
Enjoy the live animals (it’s happening on December 23), but look for the Christ child. Enjoy the beautiful worship services that will happen, but remember that they are just rough little mangers that seek to hold the real star of the show at Christmas, the baby.
Can’t think of a better way to put it than this: Behold the Lamb of God!
- Pastor Gregg