If you are searching for vision, Christmas is a great place to go looking for it. Looking back at previous posts I see that in December 2008 I was talking about vision and purpose then, and I am drawn to do the same now.
Why is Christmas such a potent source of vision for us? Here are three reasons. First, the Christmas story is a tale about birth, new life. The birth of a child brings hope and purpose to family, as surely as the death of a loved one can sap vision and leave those left behind to cope with the (quite necessary) task of grieving. Christmas is about birth, new life, in a season where, in the Northern hemisphere certainly, so much of the world is stilled and cold and dead with winter.
The second reason is that the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, Immanuel - God with us, fulfills a number of ancient, and powerful, prophecies. Isaiah talks about the coming of the Messiah hundreds of years before the event, and there is power in the words. Yes there is a child,but there is also the presence of God Himself, and authority - government and peace. These are huge themes and they are acutely relevant to us today as they were two thousand years ago. In just a couple of verses Isaiah captures the vision and potency of the moment when he says:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
(Isaiah Ch9 vv 6 and 7a - New International Version)
The third reason comes in the form of the depth of the joy implicit in the birth and promise of Christ. This is the most powerful reason for us to look to this time of year for vision, and also the most difficult to grasp. The best way to appreciate it is, I think, to compare it to our own concerns and worries. These exist at multiple levels, at the surface with day to day cares about work, family, home life, chores and responsibilities; at deeper levels in worrying about relationships, parents, children, and also at global levels - terrorism, climate change, poverty injustice. We are swept along by these things and they form the backdrop to our lives. And yet against each of these concerns, against each burden and disappointment, each temptation to despair, against all of this comes the power and life and hope of the baby in the manger and the promise he holds.
If we will let it, the Christmas vision will confront and overcome every sorrow that we have. The vision defeats the concerns of the day, the year, our lives, and the planet. To allow Immanuel to truly be with us in this way will surely make us a people who have seen a great light.
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