The Power of a Child

              Back when we were a very young family, my wife would use a strategy when she wanted to get something that would stretch us financially or when she had done something she thought would make me angry.  Coming home from work, she would have the children meet me at the door jumping up and down with kisses and hugs and saying how much they love me.  I would always say, “What did Mommy do?”  One time she had taken all the wallpaper off the walls in our dining room, realizing halfway through how big a project that really was and noticing the walls were being damaged by the removal.  The kids would say, “Look at all the hard work Mommy did today!”  Wisdom is definitely a woman, because how can someone be angry in a situation with hugs coming from children? This type of power is how our Lord comes into the world to begin His Kingdom.

              Christ could have come into the world anyway He would have wished. He is, by the way, God, but He chooses to come as a vulnerable infant.  The power of His arrival at Christmas is the power of a baby.  A baby has greater power than the biggest, strongest man in the world.  Put him in a room with the baby and he will be talking and cooing with the baby in no time. An infant lying in a manger did not out muscle or outgun anyone.  The baby Jesus, lying in a manger, underwhelms in such a way as to eventually overwhelm.  This is how God chooses to meet us.

              Babies are not out to impress anyone.  They do not argue with you. They don’t compete with you.  They can’t stand up to you.  They can’t even speak. You are part of a one-sided conversation but yet we talk to babies as if they understand everything we say.  They have an innocent calming effect on us. They bring the child out of us.  Didn’t Christ say we should come to Him like children? He sets an example for us right from His entry into our world.

              Vulnerable and meek is how we should approach our Lord…giving Him the child-like heart that lives in each of us.  This is where we can find the best that is in us. Our Christmas story is a revelation of the true power of the Lord. 

May Jesus live in our hearts forever. 
Deacon Chris