Sitting in church last week, my niece turned to me and asked, “What’s Noel?” We’d just sung it about fifty times in the recent song, and yet I couldn’t tell her. I immediately thought of this Animaniac song, though. (Here it is… my Christmas present to you!)
So, back to the church service, I typed it into my phone before the refrain was over and discovered that it means, “Christmas.” Oh yeah, I think I learned that sometime, somewhere. She was satisfied with the answer.
It seemed a little funny then to think of singing the word Christmas over and over. “Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, born is the King of Israel.” It doesn’t sound pretty and it doesn’t rhyme either.
What’s Noel?
That’s a good question for everyone to be asking right now. Just about every parent I talk to is looking forward to January, when the business of the season is over. If we are truly celebrating the event that means, “born is the King of Israel,” are we supposed to be doing it this way?
What are we reading that inspires us to love Jesus?
What music are we listening to that makes our hearts well up with praise?
What are we buying that shows we want to give our all to him?
How are we praying for others that shows that His love is in us?
What are we watching that motivates us to share His truth with the world?
It’s Christmas Eve. Mary is full of the life of God, and yet experiencing all the discomforts that pregnancy brings. Joseph is in a protective mode, looking for how to care for this child and where they should stay. The shepherds are going about their daily jobs, taking the sheep out to pasture for the evening. The angels are staged and ready to burst forth with a loud cry. The wise men are on their way to Herod in Jerusalem, the city of David, to inquire about a star and a king who was born. And Jesus is about to bring His light into the world for all to see.
Let’s pause tonight to the wonder of the birth of Christ. God became a man FOR us. As my pastor, Mark Vroegop, said last week:
“Jesus became a man in order to purchase our redemption. Who? Jesus. What? Redeems people. How? Through the humiliation of becoming human. Therefore, the call from this text today is behold the beauty of the incarnation and to celebrate this season not only on the basis of what he did – but to marvel and meditate on how he did it. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us!” (Sermon Here)
Merry Christmas! And my the light of Christ shine in you this weekend and for eternity.
