Pizza Hut grace

Last week, my wife and I took our three little ones to Pizza Hut. Just before our pizza came out, the waitress came over to our table and informs us that the couple sitting behind us has paid for our meal. They told her that they were impressed with well behaved our little girls were. Both my wife and I sat there in awe at how cool that was. There is still good in the world. This time of year especially more than at other times, it seems that people are open to being more generous. Certainly this is the season for giving gifts, may we not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas trees are nice, lights are great, and snow and cookies make the holiday special, but the greatest gift came wrapped in clothes in laid in a manger. A threat to the religious establishment and the Romans. The birth of the Savior would shake the world up, and things have never been the same. 0nly, Jesus-Messiah didn’t come to spank the Romans. He comes to announce the nearness of God’s rule on earth. His entire ministry is one of extending the boundaries of the kingdom. Jesus is presented as a King, as the King. But his enthronement occurs once he is lifted up on the cross to hang between two revolutionaries. We mustn’t forget that the manger leads to the cross.  A baby wrapped in clothes one day becomes a bruised and bloodied Messiah dying for the sins of the world. He had come to give his life as a ransom.

Will we make room for him this season?