His Gift of Grace
(Read John 1)
In late December young Catholic priest, Joseph Mohr from Salzburg Austria, discovered that mice had unexpectedly made his church organ unplayable. To save the night, he asked his friend Frans Gruber to put a six-stanza poem he had previously written to music. On Christmas Eve in 1818, they sang ‘Stille Nacht’ (Silent Night) for the first time with guitar accompaniment and a choir backup for the last few lines of each verse.
Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Christmas Eve has always been a magical night for me. After dinner, my family would go to the town center, gather in front of our church adjacent to a majestic Christmas tree, and sing Christmas carols. During O Come All Ye Faithful, someone would play trumpet from the Steeple. As a kid, I must confess that it had more to do with looking for Santa Claus and hoping I had been good enough to get presents instead of coal, but the meaning of the night was deeper than that. I remember during Silent Night one year, looking up at that black winter sky speckled with clusters of white stars, picturing Jesus in his manger. I thought there was a Santa, yet I knew there was a God. That night has stuck with me ever since.
I’ve seen all kinds of arguments on social media about proper attitudes towards Christmas. Some people advise to never say “Merry Christmas” because you can’t assume what people believe. One guy made fun of churches that advertise for Christmas services, and I tend to agree that Christmas and Easter are two days of the year which probably don’t require marketing. The people will come. Another argument was from a Jesus follower who scolded other believers for reducing the meaning of Christmas to commercial gimmicks, Santa Claus, and Hallmark content. In typical social media fashion, a sarcastic non-believer replied that Christmas began as a pagan holiday, first worshiped by the Romans before the early Christians adopted it. Basically saying, what does it matter? I hate to admit it, but the guy was right in some respects, because the emperor Constantine did adapt the observance of Christ’s birth to December 25 in 336 AD. The larger point, however, is that we all tend to miss the larger point. Christmas isn’t about us, what we think, and what we do, as much as it’s about the light that the Jesus brought into the world when he became God in flesh.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
There are about 18 prophecies about Jesus in the book of Isaiah. This is one of my favorites. “Immanuel,” God with us in Hebrew, is one of the most comforting concepts in the Bible. Jesus was Christ’s proper name, how people communicated with Him, but Immanuel is his purpose and mission. The significance of “Immanuel” is huge when it came to laying the groundwork for the Savior. The Israelites wanted to be released from 700 years of oppression. Based on misunderstanding of prophecy, they were expecting someone else. But God’s answer came in the form of a babe swaddled in a manger born to a 13-year-old Jewish girl. We are much like the Israelites in that Jesus isn’t always what we’re looking for. God’s answers don’t always meet our expectations.
My Dad had been struggling with heart and kidney issues for months; years. One November he was admitted to a hospital and never left. We wanted him to be healed, to be like he was 10-years earlier. Or to have a quick passage. I learned that sometimes what we want from God is different from what we need from God. Almost two months later, my mom, sister, two brothers, and I formed a circle around his bed as he took his last painful breaths in this world — time seemed to freeze in place. With stinging wet eyes, we took turns holding his hands. The only sounds in the room were from the annoying heart rate monitor and our muffled cries. No one talked. The air was so still. I was praying silently for God to bring him home. That excruciating pause of time was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever encountered in my life. But we were with my dad. He was a believer. He wasn’t alone, God was with him, and God was with us. I’m grateful to have been there for that difficult time because my dad needed us. Immanuel: God with us, God incarnate.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
Jesus’ birth punctured a wall between God and mankind. God came to earth in the lowest form possible. The divine formless being with no beginning or end, took human form on earth as a single cell. Talk about a miracle? The magic of Christmas isn’t found in the sparkle of ornaments or even in the eyes of my beautiful granddaughter gazing at a pile of Christmas gifts, the magic of Christmas comes as forgiveness and eternal love made possible only by the birth of Jesus.
Notable Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, wrote that every recorded miracle of Scripture was preparation for, or resulting from, Jesus’ incarnation. We might think since Christ became human in Bethlehem around 6-4 BC that his story began there, but Jesus explained, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22:13). From the beginning of time Jesus has always been, and yet His incarnation marked the remarkable Big Bang of God’s forgiveness.
Today is Christmas Eve where many churches typically light what is known as the “Christ Candle.” The candle represents the light, purity, and blamelessness of Christ’s life. It’s usually centered in the Advent wreath and much larger than the others. If you haven’t seen a beautifully adorned lit Advent wreath surrounded by the magic of a Christmas Eve service, it’s a worthy sight to take in. It echoes the supernatural moment of Jesus’ birth and the very instance where centuries of prophecy became reality.
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
John 1:16
Another way of saying this could be, out of God’s abundant, overflowing love, we all receive grace on top of what He’s given us already. It’s the cherry on top. What a gift! What a miracle! Joseph and Mary meant nothing to Caesar Augustus, they were two poor unknowns forced, because of a census, to make a long trek about 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary did mean a lot to God. We matter a lot to God too. If we didn’t, He wouldn’t have given us the gift of Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, or Immanuel.
That cold Christmas Eve when I was a child so many years ago, proved to be a benchmark in my path towards Jesus Christ. I didn’t know then that Jesus isn’t Santa. With Jesus, I didn’t have to be good enough. I will never be good enough. The hands that created the heavens are the same hands of the sinless baby who would grow up to save me. The struggles in my life will continue, but in Jesus Christ I’m given perfection. He lights my path and I’m saved simply by accepting and unwrapping His gift of grace. Merry Christmas!!!
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love’s pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Silent Night (Stille Nacht)
Key Application:
- Accept God’s grace. This night, embrace the stillness. Feel the quiet loving arms of Jesus around you. Pray silently with eyes closed and picture the radiant beams of His pure light. Read John 1. Feel God’s fullness.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.