COMMENTARY: For troubled times, no greater gift
___He was just a tiny little baby, the flesh-clad Son of God. The cattle stall could not have been a more humble place to exchange heaven's breath for human life, and it was in the mind of the Almighty to fashion the birth just so. The
kings of the earth have seldom advanced its authenticity. Earth's artisans have held in disdain its simplicity.
___The patrons of religion have frowned upon its unabashed lack of adorning, its near absence of pomp and circumstance. Nevertheless, he came, the fulfillment of all divine expectations. It was Mary's hands that laid the child upon the softness of stable straw. It was Mary's voice that whispered in his ear the first words of adoration. An assembly of angels watched, stunned in wonder at the birth of hope--rich gift beyond all explanation!
___So, we desperately needed this child of heaven, and never more than now! Mailed fists have struck, smiling for the havoc wrought upon our homeland--pleased even more with the dead and near-dead left in the tragedy of its wake.
___Beyond question, we are all involved in the carnage one way or another--every mother's son and daughter of us, color bleached by the hard, gray ash; all the while contending that ours truly is "one nation under God."
___I judge it fair to ask, What would we do without the Christmas Christ, the cross and his incomparable resurrection?
___To be sure, it is difficult enough to walk through shadow valley with the faith we have garnered in a lifetime; pray tell what would it be like to meet terror's vicious ire without the Christ of Christmas morning?
___That is precisely the heart of all that has been said. We are never beyond the love, sight and care of the King of kingdom come.
___BO Baker, a longtime Texas Baptist pastor and evangelist, has written a Christmas reflection for the Baptist Standard for 26 years.
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|