December 2017

Dear Friends -
Soren Kierkegaard told this story to describe the incarnation.

A certain king was rich, powerful, and unhappy. He was alone. Without a queen, the vast palace was empty. One day, while riding through the streets of a small village, he saw a beautiful peasant girl. Her beauty immediately stole his heart. He wanted her more than anything he had ever desired. But how could he win her love? He could issue a decree and order her to the palace, but since she was his subject she would be forced to obey. That would not be the love he sought.

Then he thought, “I will call on her in person. I will wear my royal robes, put on the crown jewels, the sword of state, all my finest. I will sweep her off her feet.” But would she love him or his wealth.

Then he decided to dress as a peasant, and in disguise he would approach her house. But the dishonesty of this trick did not appeal to him.

So finally, he laid aside his royal robes and went to the village to become a peasant. He shared their lives. He worked and suffered with them. By becoming one with them, he won his bride.

There are lots of Christmas Tales, and I enjoy a lot of them. Whether it is one of a thousand retellings of A Christmas Carol, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” A Miracle on 34th St. (1947 black and white version, or 1994 color), or even Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Berle Ives, they invite even the most secular to recognize and think about Christmas.

But Kierkegaard’s story captures Christmas better than most. He gets the essentials.
     • The King wanted to win his bride (remember the Church is called the Bride of Christ.)
     • Because of love he lay aside his position as King and risked everything, including rejection, to win her.
     • And living with her as one like her, he did.

Kierkegaard did leave out one essential aspect. Christ did not win his bride only by becoming like her. He won her by giving himself for her. The Manger is empty without the cross. Bethlehem loses its power without Calvary. The incarnation misses its purpose without the crucifixion.

When we see that the child who was born came to die, then we see the Christmas story in its true light.
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Christmas is the Good News wrapped up in human flesh. “God loved the world so much he gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Keep your Christmas around that truth and have a blessed Christmas.

 ~ Pastor Byron 

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