Advent Word: Message

Today's Advent Word is 'message'. It's nearly the end of Advent. Christmas Eve is tomorrow so I'm thinking of the message of Christmas. The heart of the Christmas message can be found through the Christmas story.

The Christmas story takes us to a manger where Mary laid her baby, because there was no room in the guest rooms of Bethlehem.

Once upon a time, shepherds hurried there to find the new born Christ-child. There had heard a message from angels about good news of great joy to all people.

Once upon a time, wise men came to worship him. They had received a message through studying signs in the heavens.

But the message of Christmas is that God isn’t confined to ‘Once upon a time’. God has become incarnate – taking on our flesh, expressing himself as babies do in such an immediate way to to hunger, pleasure, joy, pain. What an amazing message.

The message of the story is that in Jesus, God gave himself to the world, not in overwhelming power, but in the vulnerability and weakness of a baby. And in that greatest of gifts is the gift of love - and that is a message to ponder and celebrate.

Image Credit: Flickr: CC License