Merry Christmas Folks! It’s hard to believe yet another whole year has gone by. I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season and are able to enjoy the many blessings God has given you. The following is the letter I wrote to my church family as part of my annual Christmas greetings. I’ve decided to post it here also:

If there’s one thing that stands out about the birth of Christ, it is that the whole account reaffirms the observation that when God does things, He doesn’t do them in the way we humans would expect. In fact, he often does the opposite to what we might do.

If we had the choice we’d probably make sure the King would be born into a well established family – certainly not a virgin yet to be married and certainly not a poor couple from a small town off the beaten path!

We’d make sure that when the time of birth approached that the most modern medical care was on hand and that a well-equipped, sterilized birthing room was provided for the expectant mother – certainly not a stable surrounded by animals and the help of a man who is a carpenter by trade! Not only that but we would make sure that the mother wouldn’t experience any undo stress leading up to the pregnancy – like a journey on a donkey for example!

And why would God announce the birth of the King of kings to a small group of lowly shepherds way out on the hills? I mean come on - shouldn’t this wonderful news be introduced with a spectacular light show surpassing anything the world has ever seen? What about writing something on the wall in the temple or the palace like He did in Babylonia that one time (see Daniel 5)? Or couldn’t He at least have sent the angels to the middle of Jerusalem or the temple?!

Oh, but He did cause a star to shine – we don’t want to forget that do we? However, if it was us, we’d probably use divine power to write out a celestial message in the sky, “It’s a boy!” or “Jesus is born”, or “Go to Bethlehem to see the King!” But no, God chose to cause one (that’s right, just one out of a quadrillion plus) star to shine brighter than all the rest. Of course it was significant enough that some wise guys from another country came to Judea to check out the King – but shouldn’t every king in the world be there? If we were God we’d probably do some sort of transporter trick and instantly transport any royalty of that time period to the place where Jesus was born. Might as well get a head start on the whole “who’s in charge” thing right?

And what about the gifts the wise men brought? I don’t doubt for an instant that God had some influence (whether directly or indirectly) in what the wise men presented to Jesus - the significance and prophetic nature of the gifts is too much of a give-away (gold=royalty, frankincense=deity, incense was used in the temple as a symbol of worship, myrrh=death, this was often used as part of an embalming process). But most believers would agree that all the riches of the world should have been brought to the feet of Jesus (and that still wouldn’t be enough).

Yes, there’s much about the history of the incarnation that is different than what we might expect, but the reality is that the events that unfolded were something God planned from before the beginning of creation. Furthermore, in the Old Testament there are a quite a few places where God, through the Prophets, told us exactly what to expect! God always fulfills every promise, every prophecy, and every word He speaks. You can be sure that unlike the weatherman’s forecast, you can count on what God says.

One of the big encouragements I get out of the history of the Nativity – besides the obvious one’s like the fact that the Messiah was born – is that God’s ways always work. Even though it may not be how I expect it (or should expect it) to happen – it still turns out all right. In the end, God knows what He is doing and what He is doing is best. This gives me comfort when life throws a curveball and it turns out different than I expect, or when I pray consistently and fervently for someone to be healed, or for another miracle and it seems like God isn’t answering that prayer, or when I expend a great deal of energy laboring on a project and it appears to be all for nothing, or when I tell someone about Jesus and they shrug it off. A lot of times things don’t turn out the way I expect but I always try to remember that in the end, when I surrender everything to Him, God knows what He is doing and, what He is doing is best!

My message to you via this short Christmas letter this year is to keep on trusting God no matter what unexpected things happen in your life – maybe things won’t turn out the way you expect but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t know what He is doing – and it certainly doesn’t mean He isn’t up to something that you will be totally in awe of when He’s finished! Surrender your plans, your dreams, your thoughts, your activity AND your EXPECTATIONS! Then take joy in the way He unfolds things in your life. Remember, we’re ordinary people who are part of an extraordinary plan!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

– Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Love your pastor, and fellow believer on the journey…