There were no cookies that first Christmas. There were no gifts that first Christmas either – the wise men were still following the star – and the little drummer boy is not a character found in the birth narratives in scripture. There were no holiday parties, no decorations, no tinsel, no garland, no green and no red, no Santa, no holiday cheer, and no carols. Just a birth in an out-of-the-way town, in a stable.

Aaron Klink writes, “Many … forget just what a scandal the incarnation and the virgin birth really were, that behind the pretty nativity scene lies both a wonder and a scandal.” No doubt, the thinking of the people in those earliest of years in the first century did not envision a king-to-be, a savior, and a Messiah born in such a manner to such a woman. Scandal! And wonder of wonders… God works through the least of these to fulfill God’s plans for the very salvation of the world!

We declare Jesus as “Emmanuel,” God-With-Us, no matter what the conditions of our Christmas Day lives may be; whether filled with grand celebrations and abundant gift-giving in the midst of seasonal splendor or filled with far more humble arrangements. My Christmas wish for each and every one of you is that love and memories and the spirit of giving fill your Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas!

Rev. Eric