Dear Fellow Children of
God,
One of the most impressive
experiences for our group from St. John as we recently traveled through Germany
was the sharing of stories from our city guides about the times before The Iron
Curtain came down in 1989. We heard personal accounts of fear and faith
from guides in Eisenach, Erfurt, Eisleben, Wittenberg, and Leipzig. That
part of the world is also the source of one of my favorite explanations of
Christmas in recent years. Please let me share someone else’s devotion
this week. I believe this story from that part of the world can help us
understand God’s gift of His Son at Christmas.
“In
1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of
Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the
public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and
police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been
abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the
orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:
‘It
was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the
first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and
Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a
stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the
story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some
sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing
the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude
manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow
napkins . . . for straw [and] small squares of flannel for the baby's
blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United
States.
The
orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they
needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat.
He looked to be about 6-years-old and had finished his project. As I looked at
the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the
manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there
were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at
this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very
seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once,
he related the happenings accurately -- until he came to the part where Mary
put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made
up his own ending to the story as he said,
"And
when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had
a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have
any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him. But I told him I
couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give Him like everybody else did. But
I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I
could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good
gift." So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep You warm, will that be a good enough
gift?' And Jesus told me, 'If you keep Me warm, that will be the best gift
anybody ever gave Me.' So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me
and He told me I could stay with Him -- for always."
As
little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed
down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the
table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had
found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay
with him -- for always.’
The
Americans? They had learned the lesson they had come there to teach -- that it
is not what you have in your life, but Who you have in your life that really
counts. God’s Christmas gift to us is the enduring love of Jesus Christ,
the one person who keeps us warm and safe for always.”
“4 But when the time had fully come, God
sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under
law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are
sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,
"Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since
you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:4-7)
A Child of God, Living in
God’s eternal Love in Jesus,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I have attached
the documents for the Gratitude Journal to this e-mail, with a cover page in MS
Word, and the body of the document in Excel.
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM
THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly,
to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this
e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this
e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for
this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of
these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.
****
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