Posts Tagged “COAL”

One of my favorite authors is Tim Keller. I was reading today in a book that I read every Christmas called “come thou long expected Jesus” which is a collection of essays and sermons on Christmas. One of its chapters is written by Tim Keller and he says this, “There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. And Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile. God became someone we could hurt. Why? To get us back.” That is one of the many amazing truths we should reflect on this Christmas.

I don’t typically keep an advent calendar every year, or really have a ton of Christmas traditions. I do however try to focus my attention on what it must have been like living in anticipation and hope of the Messiah. I try to read the story of Jesus’ birth being mindful of what that time period in history must have been like. The truth is the events surrounding Jesus’ birth were brutal. It helps me to remember that amidst  the sometimes cheesey, thoughtless, commercialized  thing we’ve made Christmas to be. One of the things that helps me do that is a poem called “The Innkeeper” by John Piper. Its a fictional story, that while could be true, the potential truth isn’t the point. The point is to rock us, our hearts, our minds, into the reality that was a desperate hurting and broken world, that desperately needed a saviour. And to see our world as desperate,  hurting and also in need of a Saviour. You can listen to it here.