Something to celebrate!

When a child is born we celebrate.

Or maybe not.

Our society sees the dark side of parenting – from loss of autonomy to greater responsibility, from above the water stability to drowning in financial strain, from a known identity to a shared identity.

Imagine the shame side of Christmas. An illegitimate birth, a government mandated trip, a homeless existence for the first years of life as a refugee.

What was there to celebrate? Why do we celebrate millenia later?

The joy of Christmas is not found in comfortable circumstances. The joy of Christmas is found in a baby, to be named Jesus, destined to extract a shudderingly sick world from the ailment of their sin. We encounter evil and we want release.

But the phrase, “For unto us a child is born”, also carries the life giving side. You can be extracted, but to what? To a life that our creator designed for us. To a life that baby would model. To an ongoing infusion of this life into our life that would give us love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness – a life that exemplifies the creator.

This sounds like something to celebrate!

Pastor Ron Baker
Interim Pastor
Clearview Community Church