PASTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

I read an interesting letter last week in which the individual wrote beautifully of the true meaning of Christmas. No, it's no news to the majority of Americans that the true meaning of Christmas has been snowed under by other forces vying for prominence. The glad tidings of the season is "Sale! 50 percent off!" and a certain round figure in a red velvet suit seems to have taken center stage.

Many people find it important to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but think it optional to attend church regularly throughout the year. This inability to bring the significance of the birth of Jesus to a logical conclusion seems to be a general malady of the Western world. It's easy to celebrate the birth of a baby. They're harmless, cute and do little to make us uncomfortable. However, the birth of Jesus is only one aspect of his time on Earth. We can't isolate one facet of his life without taking everything else about him into account.

The night the angel of the Lord announced the good news to the shepherds in Judea, he said, "Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." This baby wasn't any normal child. There are many things he could have said about him, such as, "He's the cutest little thing!" He will undoubtedly win any beauty contest he's enrolled in. This is how you'll know he's from heaven!" Such is the way some people would interpret what the angel said. Nothing more than a cute little Christ child.

But what tahe angel did proclaim is very significant. He announced that this child was "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." He is a Savior, who would save his people from their sin; the Christ, the "anointed one" of God, who would be the prophet, priest and king of whom the ancient prophets prophesied; the Lord, who is master and exercises absolute control over mankind. It is to him we owe our very lives; to him we must give account on the last day.

The angel proclaimed that this message was for all the people. Jesus didn't just come for an elite or obscure few. He came to give his life as a ransom for all. Who he is, what he did and what he said are as relevant for every man, woman and child on the face of the Earth.

If we worship the Lord as a child, how much more should we worship him, who called us to forsake all and to follow him, and not just at Christmastime? He came to save us from our sin and give us abundant life. We can only enjoy his life as we lay down ours. It seems that this is the most difficult part of the message for man to apply to his life. He is Lord of all.

His coming as a child demands our attention. His living as God in the flesh demands our obedience. His death and resurrection as the Lord of glory demand our all. May the magnitude of his incarnation be made real to us this Christmas season. Merry Christmas.

The Rev. Fred Poston is pastor of New Plymouth Community Church in Cape Girardeau.