As I was getting ready for worship on Sunday morning it
suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten something when planning our
worship service. It was Christmas
morning and I had left out the Bible's telling of the Christmas story.
On the one hand it was a pretty easy thing to skip. I was planning worship for this Sunday much
as I plan any Sunday. There are parts to
our worship service that happen every Sunday and I had planned all of those
parts in the same manner as I do every Sunday.
It wasn't that I was planning on not talking about Christmas, but just
that the Christmas story itself just wasn't among my planning materials at the
time.
And it was not as if I had completely ignored the Christmas
story in worship. During our Christmas
Eve service we read it from Luke
2:1-20. The weather was dicey that
night but we had about 20 people present, and they got to hear the story, read
from the Bible.
Anyhow, as I was doing my usual Sunday morning pre-worship activities
I started to think about the Christmas story and I decided to read it as part
of the introduction to the sermon. And
so I read it aloud before reviewing my sermon notes. And as I read it one tiny phrase jumped out
at me.
Joseph and Mary are in Bethlehem, and Mary is pregnant. Verse 6 says:
"And
while they were there, the time came
for her to give birth."
Luke tells the story in a very ordinary fashion. Any of us who are parents and were present
when our children were born understand well the idea that in one moment the
mother is pregnant and then the time comes for the process of giving birth to
the baby. And so what Luke tells is
quite true, but that phrase, "the time came" points to something so
much more significant.
"The time
came" for God to actively work out the long-awaited plan of
redemption.
"The time
came" for God to begin the process that would one day restore everything
that went wrong when sin entered the world.
"The time
came" for God to free sinners from bondage and show them the way to
true peace.
This morning was the time to remind my congregation of this
truth: that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that without faith
in Him we are truly, eternally, lost and without hope. And yet, while we were lost, "the time
came."
May you know the hope and peace that are only found in Jesus.
Amen
Scripture quotations
are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by
Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
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