The Christmas Baby

I was talking to a friend who visited Canada recently; she said there is no “Christmas-feel” there. I begin to think what is this “Christmas-feel” she is looking for? Is it the thousands of spectacular lights and decorations, mountains of gift-boxed chocolates and biscuits at the stores in Hong Kong? I feel like it is Christmas when I see the Salvation Army people ringing their bells on the sidewalks or hear Bing Crosby singing ”I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” over the radio. I wonder, what does Christmas feel like in the jungles of Congo or Papua New Guinea or Ecuador where there is no snow? Well, actually there is a website telling you what Christmas is like around the globe from Africa to Yugoslavia. Check it out at http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm for those of you who are interested in the world of cultures. It might be helpful for you to know how your missionary is spending Christmas in that country.

Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas day; it became Christmas because He was born at that time. Christmas commemorates the birth of a baby missionary. He spent thirty years adjusting to His humanity and His self-imposed limitation. Can you imagine the OMNI (all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present) God taking on the form of a freshly-born human? A helpless baby needing His mother’s milk, a boy requiring His parents’ care, a man asking for His disciples’ prayer. This missionary came for a reason; His life purpose was to do the will of the Father who sent Him. It took Him three years from the carpenter’s woodshop to Calvary’s wooden cross. When His mission was accomplished, He could go home to the Father. I believe Jesus knew what He was getting Himself into before He left heaven’s gate. He had counted the cost and decided your salvation and my soul were worth all the sorrow and pain.

I see total submission in the life of Christ: coming to this earth as well as going to the cross. Shouldn’t all missinaries follow this first baby missionary’s footsteps? Are we willing to stay behind if that is the Lord’s order? Are we willing to go wherever if that is His command? I pray that this Christmas we can see past the Christmas lights on the streets to the stars in the sky, touch beyond the Christmas gifts under the tree to the hearts of our loved ones, and hear more than the Christmas carols at the door. If you are really quiet, you might even hear the Christmas Baby’s cry!