Is Christ missing from your Christmas?

Imagine my surprise when I drove up to the church one morning last

week and saw a gaping hole in the middle of our creche out on the

point. Christ was missing.

I had seen the Christ child there the evening before on my way

home after a meeting. Now, Christ was missing. I thought maybe one of

the congregation members had “rescued” Christ after I had mentioned

in a sermon that some Christians wanted to remove Jesus altogether

from the commercial enterprise of Christmas. But, as I looked at the

debris on the lawn, it appeared like a rather hasty and violent

abduction. I knew no member would treat Christ like that, even in a

rescue mission. So I looked around for a ransom note, but there was

none.

Creating the plywood creche was a project of our elementary kids,

and there were discussions between services the following Sunday as

to what should be done about the abduction. Some felt that we should

get another Christ child out on the lawn and do a better job of

securing it. Others thought about putting the creche up out of reach,

but visible from the street. Most of the proposed solutions were

about how to keep or hold onto Christ as if He belonged to us. It

struck me that the Christ child is a gift to all and is possessed by

no one. We can belong to Christ, but Christ never belongs to us.

Instead of chaining the Christ child to the lawn, perhaps we

should be making several copies for the taking -- a gift for the

bored, the curious, the desperate, the lonely, or the spiritually

poor and hungry. Whoever took Christ, you should be warned. If you

open your heart and your mind to what that piece of plywood

represents, your life will be transformed. To that end, you are

invited to celebrate this gift of God’s love with us on Christmas

Eve.

The family service at 5 p.m. is designed for children and their

families. Rev. Steph Toon will present the Christmas message, “The

Child Is Born.” The 10:30 p.m. communion and candlelight service

features traditional lessons and carols, special music by the choirs,

and my Christmas message: “When Last Did You Ponder?”

Grace and peace,

Dr. Dick George, Senior Minister

Mesa Verde United Methodist Church