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Families Matter Columns on Family Life by Hollie Atkinson |
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More Than a Baby More Than a Baby is the title of a music drama, but it is also the truth of Christmas. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, a baby to be sure, but more than "just a baby." This child is different, make no mistake about it! For one thing, this child came as fulfillment to a promise. Early in Israel's history God had promised a Messiah. The Old Testament was filled with "shalls" - anticipatory words: "...The virgin shall be with child and shall give birth to a son, and shall call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). The promise was a long time in coming. Eager anticipation turned into tenacious belief - God would keep his word! God's people can count on that. At Christmas we celebrate promise and fulfillment. The Messiah, long expected, long awaited, has arrived. The Lord has come! Advent! Advent! Look and listen to the cast: Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, magi, Zachariah and Elizabeth, Anna and Simeon - dancing, delight, adoration, doxology, everywhere! There are, however, notes of sadness and tragedy in the story. Some people missed that first Christmas: A king did. Apparently an innkeeper did. Religious leaders did. And a host of others did as well. To make sure that you and your family will not be among those who miss Christmas in 2003, I offer you the following prayer by Henry van Dyke to use at your Christmas tree: "The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and crowns another year with peace and good will. Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the Wisemen. Close the doors of hate and open the doors of love all over the world...Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts. May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen." |
