IF…
The legend is told of a pastor who, one wintery Christmas Eve night, escaped to his study for a brief respite from the noisy festivities of his church and family celebration. He settled in his favorite wingback chair, pulled close to the fireplace, picked up his Bible and began to read in the Gospel of John. Weary from a full day of counseling and sermon preparation and other pastoral duties, he dozed off to sleep and dreamed of a world into which the Savior had never been born.
In his dream, he wandered through his empty house, his footsteps echoing forlornly. There were no family pictures on the walls. There wasn’t a bough of greenery to be found or a flickering Christmas candle. No stockings were “hung by the chimney with care.” No food was set out for the parishioners. For you see, in this world to which he had awakened, there was no family, there were no parishioners. Leaving his lonely house, he wandered the streets of his community. He was frightened and dismayed at the changes wrought by the absence of Christ. All around him were sinners without hope. Looking closely he recognized the face of a familiar friend huddled around a street fire. But his eyes! How hateful they were! What was in that bottle he clutched so desperately? And that woman there on the corner, dressed so provocatively…yet looking so very, very lost…No! It could not be!
Hurrying back to his house, he looked for his Bible, seeking some words of reassurance…vaguely remembering the writing of one called John…only to find that his Bible ended with the words of Malachi.
The ringing of the doorbell awakened him. Startled, the pastor looked with a great sigh of relief at the opened Bible in his lap that showed the heading “The Gospel According to John.” He heard his wife call his name, beckoning him back to join their guests. He said, “Just a minute, dear…” and paused to ponder the very words of Christ…”If I had not come…”
Can you imagine what your life would be like today if He had not come? What if there had been no manger? What if angels had never heralded the coming of a Savior? What if there had been no Incarnation? What if there was no “Emmanuel”, God with us? And if He had not come, He could not have died, and where, oh where, would we all be without His Name, without His blood, without His love?
Jesus was speaking his last address to His disciples in John 15, instructing and instilling Himself in them when He said, “If I had not come…” and “If I had not done…”
This is the message of Christmas. He did come! He did! As Max Lucado put it, “We live on a visited planet!” As bad as our world seems to be, as mixed up as our society is, we still live on a visited planet. While Americans spend multiplied thousands of dollars to save whales and owls, yet spend even more to take the lives of unborn children…While untold millions are going to bed hungry tonight even in America…While rioters rampage and criminals stalk the innocent…We still live in a place He came to.
And because He came…there can be peace on earth, goodwill toward men – at least in our hearts. Because He came, the broken-hearted can feel the tender hands of a loving and understanding Savior bind their wounds. Because He came…captives can find liberty, prison doors can be opened and men can walk freely, no longer bound by sin. Christmas proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord. Because He came, we have traded beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Because He came we now walk a road called righteousness and are so very blessed.
Because He came to where we are, someday we can go to where He is. “I go to prepare a place for you…that where I am, there ye may be also…” And, that, my friends, is perhaps the best Christmas gift of all.
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