God's message at Christmas is - "With all my love... a little gift is on the way." That gift of love was the birth of Jesus. Jesus is the gift of God's love.

It is hard to believe that God's love would come in the birth of a baby in such an obscure way. Surely, if God came, he would do so in a more spectacular fashion?

"If you were the Son of God, how would you have entered the world?.. Odds are, we would have made sure we were born to highly influential, brilliant parents whose faces would have graced the covers of Time magazine for their great feats of humanitarian aid. If not somewhere glamorous, then we would have at least been born someplace dignified. And if we really wanted to do the most good, we would have been sure to attend the best schools, receive the highest academic honors, and generally put ourselves in a position to garner the most possible support for our cause.

Maybe while attending said prestigious school, we might invent a website that billions and billions of people would join, where we could influence our friends and followers with the click of a button. Wait a second... that's our version of the entrance of the savior into the world. One thing's for certain: this version wouldn't include any pain.

But how did Jesus arrive? He was born to a teenaged virgin girl in a glorified garage and laid in a feeding trough. Jesus grew up in a rural area, never held a public office or wrote a book. He was broke and virtually homeless. All the religious leaders hated him, and when he got embroiled in religious and political controversy, his best and only friends abandoned him....Lackluster would be a nice word for Christ's origins." (Tullian Tchividjian, Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free, p.166f.)

How does the apostle John describe his coming? "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth....grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:14,17)

At Christmas we celebrate the little gift of the birth of a baby. A baby: weak, vulnerable, yet powerful in capturing the affections of the human heart. There is nothing like the birth of a baby to melt cold hearts and turn indifference into tenderness. God comes to us, communicates with us, reaches out to us, through the birth of this baby. The secular culture tries to capture our thoughtless hearts and minds through adrenaline pumping and seductive commercials, through propaganda, through shocking images and gory stories, through guilt, through the power of the media, through manipulation and fear, through terrible tragedies.

In contrast, God captures our hearts and minds through this little gift that is full of grace and truth.

Grace is the free, unearned gift of the life, work and message of the Word made flesh. Grace is what makes life worthwhile for it comes in and through a person called Jesus and so is personal, is relational. Grace is love in action: always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, always persevering. Love never fails. Grace reaches out to the greatest of sinners, to the least deserving, and welcomes them, and forgives them. Grace is love in action toward the prodigal, the promiscuous, the self-righteous prig, the disabled, the ill, the dangerous, the corrupt, the controlling, the anxious, and the dying.

Truth is the Word which is ultimate reality, the benchmark, the objective standard of the right providing direction, guidance, purpose, commandments, the rules of life, the content of the good, and the beautiful, which when put into practice will withstand all the storms of life. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins in his journey to the Lonely Mountain had to follow the instructions he had been given if he were to arrive at his destination safely. We will encounter all sorts of dangers in the way of life, but we will be safe if we walk with Jesus and follow his direction.

"How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv'n.
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heav'n.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him
still the dear Christ enters in." (Phillips Brooks)

Take the baby Jesus, and all that he brings, God's grace and truth, into your arms this Christmas. Take Jesus into your hearts, and minds, and wills. Enfold him with faith. Let him capture you, convert you, transform you into his willing slave, his servant. For "whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:43-45)

(Ted Schroder's new book: WHY AM I? Reflections on Meaning and Purpose from Genesis 1-11, is now available. Follow his blog on www.ameliachapel.com/blog)