2009 Advent Devotional: December 6

December 6: Luke 2.1-7                                      Dennis Sanders

The writer of Luke presents this groundbreaking event with all the excitement of reading the details of last month’s church board meeting. And maybe that’s the point: God enters our lives in such ordinary ways. We expect angelic choirs and shining lights, but sometimes God comes in ways that are very common: like the cry of a tiny babe.
As we prepare for the coming of Christ, I am reminded of the concept of Incarnation, when God becomes flesh.We see that clearly in the person of Jesus, who comes to earth as a little baby and grows up to be a man and dies.
But the fact is, God has not stopped being incarnate since Jesus is no longer with us. God can be found in many places, doing the most mundane things.It could be a friendly greeting to a person suffering from a mental illness.Or the retiree who brings food to the local foodshelf. Or the young person who is passionate about solving world hunger and raises money for the CROP walk.

Christ’s birth reminds us that God is not found in the flashy and big things, but God is made known, becomes enfleshed in the people that we see everyday.And if we have eyes to see we can see God among the boring and common.

Marty Haugen’s Advent hymn, “Awake, awake and Greet the New Morn” is an example of how this little insignificant child made all the difference:

“To everyone who sorrows or fears,? Emmanuel comes a-singing;
the humble song is quiet and clear,? but fills the earth with its ringing.
Music to heal the broken soul? and hymns of loving kindness,
the thunder of the anthems roll? to shatter all hate and injustice.”

Amen and Amen.