Merry Christmas!
Good morning and Merry Christmas! What a blessing this morning is indeed. For today, we celebrate the greatest gift give in history – God giving the world His one and only son, sending the true Superman, that we may gain eternity via faith through his death on the criminal’s ignominious, wooden cross. Jesus was truly born to die – despite being God himself. What amazing grace, indeed, that He would humble himself, take on human flesh, and willingly cast off his mortal coil, that we might live! This is the essence of Christmas, the very stuff of existence – and the purest expression of love ever shown.
I am struck by the idea “Born To Die.” After all, we runners love McDougal’s great title “Born To Run.” In fact, the acronym BTR carries enormous power for us. But how about BTD? Which of us would relish taking up the new bestseller “Born To Die”? How opposite of the worlds’ amplifications, callings and counterfeit wisdom is such a moniker?
And yet this “upside-down” philosophy – as Pastor Francis Chan has it – is the very stuff of Christianity. God suprises us at every turn. And on no day — save for Easter and the very fulfillment of the mission — is God’s “Crazy Love” (to steal from Francis Chan again) — on display so much as Christmas Day.
Enjoy this day as you see anew the mercies poured out to you through history’s greatest gift of the savior of the world. Jesus is the light of the world. May your day’s joy be radiant, real and contagious.
Best,
Patrick
