So we watched The Twelve Days of Christmas by Louie Giglio at church Wednesday night. Wowza. His talk was pretty beast if I do say so myself.
I mean, sure, I know Christmas is all about Jesus being born, but I've never really thought about how truly amazing the whole story is, nothing needs to be changed, it's perfect just the way it is. I mean, how many times does an angel appear to people these days? Exactly. We read over that like it's nothing. Think about it, an angel appeared to three unsuspecting wise men while they were chilling out watching some sheep and having a chat. An angel. Gosh, I would be terrified and amazed at the same time if an angel appeared to me while I was playing in the yard with my dog. Imagine why the first words that were usually coming out of the angels mouths when they appeared to people were "fear not." Louie made a funny comment about angels appearing, "Oh look honey! There's an angel in the den again!" ha. :) So yeah, and angel. How special is that? BUT, his words were even more specialer actually.
"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people."
Wow. That's the opening line of all opening lines right there. I would have been super excited! I bet the angel just loved seeing the looks on their faces. So all three hold their breath, I'm sure the sheep did too, and then the angel said twelve magnificent words, words that probably made the shepherd's hearts skip a beat, words that made my heart skip a beat. Words that long after that night, would be read a million times over. You want to know what those words were?
"A Savior has been born to YOU, He is Christ the Lord."
That's crazy! If I would have been there, I'm pretty sure a shiver would have gone down my spine and I'd have a little spaz like I usually do, then I would look to the others and say, "did he just say what I think he said?" Gosh, I can't imagine the thrill it would have been.
I didn't know there had been four hundred years of God being silent before this, but that just made the story even more epic. After four hundred long years, the cry of a baby broke the silence...a human cry. That showed that He was still there, He came Himself to His people who were broken, hurting...crying. He identifies with us, He understands everything. As Louie said, "there was nothing perfect about that night...except the baby." THAT is the message of Christmas. God with us, here, now, Immanuel. After being silent for so long God had one word, Jesus. Jesus completely contains everything that's in the heart of God. He has bridged a gap so He can be as close to us that He can possibly be.
There is not a person on earth who has gone so far that His love cannot reach them where they are. He's not waiting for us to get to Him, He knew that was an impossibility. So He bridged the gap to us. Wherever you are, He's coming right to you. He is full of truth and He is full of grace and He is here now.
He said everything that needed to be said, it was the night of the dear Savior's birth. So before you absolutely demolish the wrapping on your presents, take a minute and read the story. Think about it. It's so huge and amazing I'm excited just writing this down. What Louie said at the end was pretty cool, I thought it was fitting. :)
"You say, 'well what do I do?' Absolutely nothing. Just fall on your knees, and open your arms, and say thank You. On that night they were holding the Baby, but on this night, the Baby is holding you."
Merry Christmas everyone
L. I. K. E.
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