Can You Believe This?

Good morning…

I love being the first awake on Christmas Eve morning. I turn on our tree lights, look a moment at our nativity, and mix up the chocolate batter for my husband’s fifty-ninth birthday cake. We will celebrate as a family at 1:00 pm today before I work the second shift at Northside Church, welcoming worshippers to the magic of Christmas Eve services. I put Steve’s requested cake in the oven and plan to take it out in about twenty six minutes.

Now I climb beneath a cozy blanket on the couch and write whatever God brings to mind.

Most of us know the Christmas story.

Shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem. They were taking turns watching their flock during the night. An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!” (Luke 2:8-14, GW).

“Oh, this is the great joy of which the angel speaks,” I am drawn back to a Martin Luther quote. “This is the comfort and the exceeding goodness of God that, if anyone believes this, he or she can boast of the treasure that Mary is their rightful mother, Christ their brother, and God their father. For these things actually occurred and are true, but we must believe. This is the principal thing and the principal treasure in every gospel. Christ must above all things become our own and we become his. This is what is meant by Isaiah 9:6: Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. To you is born and given this child.”

My internal timer goes off. It’s time to check Steve’s birthday cake. Still needing a few more minutes to firm up, the cake is slipped back into the warm oven and I return to our nativity on the way back to the couch. I pick up and hold in my palm the clay figure of the baby Jesus.

Talented artists have depict the Christ child in so many creative ways over the years, but I agree with Martin Luther. The key to abundant life is that we personally treasure Mary as our spiritual mother, Christ as our real brother, and God as our heavenly father. These things actually occurred and are true, but we each must come to authentic belief in God’s own time, in God’s own way. Eventually, Christ must above all things become our own just as we are fully loved as his own.

The smell wafting from the kitchen draws my attention. I go to the junk drawer and pull out of the cardboard box a wooden toothpick. Then I open the oven door and gently pierce the center of the risen cake. It is done. This rich aroma is fully baked.

The redeeming prediction of Isaiah 9:6 is also fully baked. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Tomorrow we will celebrate anew the birth of the living, breathing Christ child, born to give us abundant life and sustaining breath, very, very personally.