Monday, CHRISTMAS DAY, December 25, 2006

 “For unto us a child is born…”

Today the wait is over. Today we have cause for celebration! Our Messiah is born, and we realize God is still at work in our midst!

How well have we waited? Have we been overwhelmed with the holiday preparations demanded by the world around us?  Have we been able to begin to discern God’s 21st century work at our doorsteps? Or have we given up on the search and decided to go off on our own? Do we have a hope and a vision coming to life for the next steps in our faith journey?

There is one added note to our exploration of waiting. Jesus comes as a child, a baby. Babies have to be nurtured and cared for as they grow to maturity.  The do not – and Jesus did not – come “full grown.” Neither do God’s other plans. Visions don’t become reality overnight.  “Overnight successes” usually have a long line of near failure behind them, of putting in the homework needed to lay a firm foundation for the future.

If we have caught sight of God’s plan for us, as individuals or as a church, it will still require us, each one, to pay attention to helping those visions grow to fullness. Christmas is the beginning of God’s work of salvation.  It took three decades for it to bear fruit in Jesus. Will we be as patient with the hopes and dreams of this year, and allow God’s blessing to grow to maturity in our lives?

Prayer: Thanks be to you, O God, for the Savior whose birth we celebrate today, and for all the ways your Spirit continues to call us to salvation, and to joining the work of your eternal Kingdom, that it might come on earth as it has come in heaven. Give us the hearts to daily cultivate the ground in which you work in our lives and world, that by our efforts and your grace, we may bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the peoples of the earth.  Amen.

Dr. John Clifford