Might in a Manger

"Mighty God”: The prophet sang that the coming king would be “Mighty God.” The one who would set the world to right and put down all Israel’s oppressors would be “Mighty God.” And yet, here we are with the smell of animals assaulting our senses and watching our step so that we don’t step in manure. How can this be? Is this really the mighty God that was talked about? More…the attendants are shepherds? Are you kidding me? These guys are so untrustworthy their testimony isn’t even accepted in court. Parentage? Very suspect, it is rumored that the mother's espoused husband almost put her away for being unfaithful. Is what we behold in the manger really “Mighty God?”The world has been asking that question for over 2,000 years. The world wonders at the extreme tension we see here and yet, should we? Might, true might, the authority and power to really do something is always, always, always in a manger setting. True power is always wedded to weakness and vulnerability. We just don’t want to accept that, do we? The reason is that it is telling us what Jesus did; that for us to really be used in the world in a meaningful way, we have to die!So, this is Christmas! The real Christmas—might in a manger, might wedded to weakness. I mean, it is true, you know; we just don’t want to really go there because we are afraid of the implications. You know, “the disciple being like his teacher.” Yet, as Andy Crouch says in his amazing book, Strong and Weak, “The most beloved children’s books of our time—or perhaps any time—are unflinching in their understanding that true happy endings are won only at the greatest cost and that no king is truly a king without a cross.”So yes, this is Christmas and the implications are real: any meaningful use of might is always wedded to a cross. This, or something like this, is what we will talk about this Sunday. Might in a manger––what a picture!Blessings,Jim