More thoughts from my old files
Christmas Card
I was sorting through old Christmas cards the other day. Smiling as I remembered past favourites, thinking of the family and friends who had sent them. I saw the snowy scenes, the robins and holly, the funny Santas, the nativities. And then, at the bottom of the pile I saw one like an old friend. A much loved card which brought back memories of a Christmas many years ago. It meant so much to me. I think of it often as I recall the images which brought to life the meaning of Christmas in such a real way.
It is not just another ‘religious’ card with Mary looking like a schoolgirl, squeaky clean animals and a cosy stable. It is more than that. It cannot fail to speak to the heart. For on the front is a picture of the glory of heaven. With Jesus the King surrounded by the angels. There is such breathtaking beauty in the scene which captures as closely the essence of heaven, as any human mind can comprehend. Then the shock. The contrast inside the card as my eyes alight on the stable. A stable such as I have seen in many a farmyard. Dark and dirty. I can almost smell the air. There is Mary, looking exhausted, yet still content, and in the centre, not surrounded by a ring of light, not smiling, but sleeping the deep sleep of the newly born, the baby, Jesus. It is all so believable, so real. No artistic license which can bring about a make believe scene. But faces, real human faces, that draw the eye, and move the heart. The contrast of the eternal glory of heaven and the foulness of the situation of earth is so dramatic. And yet, above and beyond the beauty and pain of the pictures are the simple words’ He came for you’.
Now these words move me again, just as they did so long ago. I think again of all that Jesus gave up in order to be a baby on earth, to grow into a man, suffer and die. Then I remember the words, ‘He came for you’. For you, for me, for everyone.
How can this be? Why should this be? Such questions are beyond my understanding, and yet, as Christmas time draws near, I find myself asking them again. A light of understanding shines out from the Christmas star which illuminates a thousand Christmas trees around the land. The light shines upwards to heaven, down to earth, and out across the world in all directions. It points to where He is in heaven, where He came on earth, and where His love is sent throughout the world. In the light I see that He brightens the darkness of earth, and brings the God of heaven nearer. I see that He shows us the way with the brightness of His presence and by His saving power guides us to the heavenly throne itself.
Lord as we prepare for Christmas remind us once more that You came from a place more wonderful than we can imagine into a troubled world. You came to show the face of the God of unconditional and extravagantly generous love and You came for me. Amen