Christmas is coming! We’ve already spent lots of time in the toy aisle. Gideon’s been pointing out all the stuff he could really use. He even tells us what Hopey needs for a present. It tends to be stuff he’s mostly interested in playing with himself. TRAINS! No,wait, CARS! No, wait, creepy Mickey Mouse doll that rocks and rolls! Okay, just kidding. He’s not interested in rock-n-roll Mickey. I think he’s actually scared of him. We’re all a little scared of him.  

Now that Christmas is coming, I do feel this tension. Because, for us, it’s really not at all about the presents. I mean the presents are nice. Who doesn’t love presents? But, for us, Christmas is really a sacred holiday. But, how do you instill in your wee little squirts that Christmas is so much more than trains and cars and jolly old St. Nick and rock-n-roll Mickey? I’m still pondering that one.

I’ve been reading about King David in the Bible. I can’t help falling in love with the guy.  He started out this young shepherd, following sheep all over the fields. Then he eventually became Israel’s king and the Bible explains him as a man who chased after God’s heart. Seems his whole life, he never stopped running wild after God. Now, he did a lot of bad things. There were points when he seriously screwed up. But, still, he loved God and wanted to be near Him. He was a shepherd. A warrior. The Israelites‘ brother. A brother who became their king.

I’m finding that the more I read of God’s Word, the more astonished I am because I see that everything, all that confusing stuff in the Old Testament, it all just points us to Jesus. Especially King David. I didn’t really get that till this morning.

See David, he was just a normal ordinary fella. Really, he was just a stinky shepherd boy, but God had plans for him to be a king. And Jesus, He was the King. He was the King of all the kings, but when he entered into humanity, when He put skin on and stepped down, He came to us as an average Joe. In fact, He came the most humble way He could. As a helpless little babe, born in a wreaking barn, wrapped up in some rags. His bed was a scratchy batch of hay in a feed trough. And as Jesus grew up, He became the Good Shepherd. The only good shepherd who ever laid down His life for His sheep.

And Kind David, he was this warrior man. He defeated all the bad guys. Remember Goliath? That huge scary dude who yelled out and made everyone want to run away? Well, little shepherd boy David sent the giant reeling to his grave. And Jesus, wasn’t He a warrior, too? I mean, I know He let the bad people conquer Him, but when light split the dark and Christ rose up from the tomb, He smashed death to smitherenes! And one day He’ll put all hell in it’s grave.

And like David, Jesus is our brother. He’s our brother and our King. He came to live alongside us. So we could call Him Emmanuel. God with us. He felt what we feel. He knows our ache.

And somehow, in the middle of all the lights and the stockings and cookies and the presents, I hope I can speak it into my little people. That this season, it really is sacred because God came down. The Rescuer came running! And we worship Him on a cold Christmas night. And we remember how the greatest Gift came in the form of a flailing babe.