Luke 2:12 & 34

December 25, 2011

Christ -- The Sign for All People

I like everything about Christmas - the lights, decorations, trees, and festivity of almost every public space.  I like finding gifts that express my great love and thanksgiving for those in my life.  I like Christmas movies (especially Charlie Brown), cookies, cards, and the general sentiment that something is different.  There is a communal anticipation, a hope, a looking forward to the morning of Christmas.  For a moment, the world seems to pause and everyone is aware that the day is different.   

And every year I read The Story (Luke 2) and am re-amazed by the obvious fact that the single greatest birth story of all time is covered in about two pages of text.  Every year I want more, I want to ask the Shepherds questions and find out how Joseph really felt seeing his young love, Mary, go into labor in the most inhospitable of places.  I want the text to give me something – and this year it gave me the word “sign” and it gave it to me twice.