“The true meaning of Christmas is pretty hard to take. . . . It makes it perfectly clear that we children of men were and are so bad, so utterly evil, that God had to take the last and most desperate step to save us from ourselves . . .The cry of the baby was preceded by the crying of the prophets, the long weary night of waiting, the voices of the saints . . . All that was necessary, but that was not enough . . . There had to be God Himself, a Child . . .  Small and helpless coming into the world for every one of us. . . . And it had to happen because we were so bad,”* O. P. Kretzmann.

Dr. Kretzmann was president of Valparaiso University from 1940-1968. There is a poetic quality to his devotional writing, but also an abruptness that sometimes seems startling, like the last sentence: “And it had to happen because we were so bad.”

I used that quote in a church newsletter many years ago, and it produced a negative reaction. Why in this happy time of Christmas do we have to be told about being sinners? It spoils the mood. But it’s the truth, and truth is often discomforting. Christ had to be born for us because we were (and are) so bad. The point, however, is that Christ did come. God came among us (Immanuel) not to condemn us, but to save us.

In spite of what I have done, God came for me. Because of what I have done, God came for me.  What grace! Glory to God in the highest!

Maranatha!

Read Matthew 1:18-24 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

* Hosanna in the Whirlwind, p. 37.