2018-12-02T11:00:00-06:00
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Christmas these days is strange and wonderful. It’s strange that Christmas can make or break the year for many businesses. It’s wonderful that Christmas can bring together millions of families every year. It’s strange that Christmas transforms neighborhoods, shopping malls, and restaurants almost overnight. It’s wonderful that Christmas brings the beauty of trees, lights, and wreaths. It’s strange that Christmas affects millions of people who have little interest in Christ. It’s wonderful that Christmas seems to make everyone a little kinder and warmer for a month or so. It’s strange that people flock to malls and scour the internet looking for the perfect gift. It’s wonderful when a season of giving leads us to consider God’s plan to give us the ultimate Gift.
As strange and wonderful as Christmas can be in our culture, it doesn’t compare to the coming of Christ. It’s strange that an angel would appear to shepherds, unclean outcasts on the outskirts of town and the fringes of society. It’s wonderful that God would do this, so that no one would feel beyond the reach of His grace. It’s strange that the angel would say to the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day…a Savior.” It’s wonderful that God would give His greatest Gift, not just to Mary and Joseph, but to the shepherds, and by implication, to the world. It’s strange that the sign of this wonderful news would be a baby lying in a manger. It’s wonderful that when God became man, there were perhaps more animal than human witnesses. It’s strange that the King of Kings would take his first nap in a feeding trough, so far from the comforts of a palace. It’s strange that a baby being born would lead angels to sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” It’s wonderful that God Himself would be our peace, a peace that surpasses any temporal or geopolitical peace.
Have we adequately reckoned with the strange wonder of Christmas? In this season, the world invites us to come and see a thousand good things and miss the one thing that really matters. We’re tempted to think that getting this or giving that or displaying this or decorating that will somehow bring us peace and joy. All the distractions make it really hard to “come to Bethlehem and see Christ, whose birth the angels sing.” As we come and behold Christ, we are reminded that our worship is often misdirected. May we not let familiarity distract us from the strange wonder of Christmas! Who but Jesus is worthy of our coming and worshiping on bended knee? Who but Jesus can bring us the peace that we need with God? Who but Jesus can give us something, not just to come and see, but to go and tell? Brothers and sisters, during this Christmas season, fear not, for behold, the Lord has brought us good news of great joy. For unto us was born that day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. There’s nothing more strange or wonderful. Gloria, in excelsis Deo!