By Brother Guy Ames
Our grandson, Atticus, loves to tell people that he was born in his bathroom. The night of his birth his Mommy had barely gotten into their car for the trip to the hospital when she knew they were already too late. For the next half hour on the floor of the bathroom, Daddy delivered their first son. We all are thankful that Atticus came not too soon and not too late; he arrived at just the right time. And so it is with Jesus. He came just at the right time.
The Bible has little to say about Joseph. Can you imagine the stress and grief as he lay down that amazing night? Thinking to himself, “how can I remove himself without causing her more grief? How could Mary allow this thing to have happened? And I still must make my trip to Bethlehem, alone!” As sleep finally arrives his topsy-turvy world turns over again.
That next morning he must have looked like a perplexed new man. I can imagine Joseph rushing to Mary’s house and asking her again about her vision. Now his dream begins to come into focus. God has visited them and they will never be the same again.
The artistic detail God has written into the story of Immanuel’s birth amazes me. A believing husband, stepping into marriage with an expectant teenaged mother, never questioning God’s messenger. A group of grimy shepherds and a team of Gentiles (wise men), all come to pay homage to this baby of promise. God’s choreography around the Nativity stands out as a masterpiece of planning.
Paul shares with the Galatians: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children” (Galatians 4: 4-5). In other words, Jesus came at just the right time! God had been preparing the world for generations so that when Messiah came, the world could hear and know that Jesus Is Lord. Not only did God set in motion the creation of a family into which Jesus would be born, but he also set in motion events so that the Gospel could go out to the whole world. For the first time in history the western world spoke a common language from India to the British Isles. The Roman Empire created the first global postal system (for all those letters of Paul, Peter, and John) and a global transportation system enabling missionaries to travel across the known world on “Roman” roads and massive ships all in ways never before imagined. Jesus came just at the right time!
For centuries, God had been moving world events, allowing Empires to rise and fall, even allowing for his Chosen people to be scattered throughout the nations of the earth, all so that the world could be ready to hear and respond to the Gospel. John writes, “For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Christmas is part of God’s grand statement to our world, “YOU ARE LOVED.” And our world has never been the same.
As we light the fourth candle on the advent wreath, we remember that above all the glitz, busyness, and gifts Christmas is God’s statement to our world. “You Are Loved.” As God has gone to such lengths to message our world his love, so God continues to call us to bring that love to our world. God’s love comes at just the right time. Christina Rosetti penned this appropriate Christmas poem in the late 1800’s, “Love Came Down at Christmas”.
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
