Christian Reflection and Prayer

Christmas is supposed to be about giving!

The Story:

This is about the difference between heaven
and hell.
Seems these two fellows get together one day.  One
is from heaven and the other from hell.  The man
from heaven asks what is hell really like  
"It's terrible, says the man from hell.  We get really
hungry feeding the furnaces , and  every night they sit
us down at these big beautiful banquet tables piled
high with food.  And the devil comes out and says,
"all you can eat, seconds even thirds.  There's
just one rule, you got to be polite down here and use
your forks."  "Their we are already to eat this food,
and we reach down and pick up our forks, and every
one of those forks got handles 3 feet long, there
is no way in the world we can get that food into our
mouths."  "And that old devil just stands there and
laughs at us every night over and over again, laughing
and laughing."  " I tell you it is torture something
awful."  "Well, says the other man, we got big tables
of food like that in heaven too, and our forks have the
same long handles, no way we can feed ourselves
either."  "SO WE JUST SIT DOWN AND FEED EACH OTHER!"

Reflection:
What and idea, what and amazing thing to do.  Makes the
whole difference between feast and famine, happiness and
torture.  How come nobody down in hell thought of that, not
one soul.  Why, because that's not the way they think, that's why
they are down there in the first place.  It wouldn't occur to
them to do anything for anybody else.  That's the real curse,
that's the real pain of living in hell.  You see it is the curse
they laid upon themselves when they walked the earth.

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON HOW WILL YOU WALK THE EARTH,
LIKE ONE FROM HEAVEN, OR ONE FROM HELL.  IT'S YOUR
CHOICE.

Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalms 24:1-6; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son and they will call Him Immanuel, a name which means God-is-with-us" (Mt. 1:23). 

A woman named Betty tried to cram all of her Christmas preparations into a single day.  Starting at 9 a.m., she shopped her entire Christmas list, bought a Christmas tree and poinsettias, ordered a turkey, carried home the groceries for Christmas dinner, brought up from the basement the big box of Christmas lights and tree decorations and, finally, at midnight, finished carefully gift-wrapping presents for her husband, Herb, and their three daughters.

Wearily, she began to congratulate herself on a job well-done -- and then, suddenly, she remembered: "The Christmas cards! I forgot to send the Christmas cards."  Tired, but determined, she signed and prepared for mailing all eighty-nine cards on her list.  Then she topped off her day's work by writing a check to a department store.  When the holidays were over, the extent of her exhaustion at the end of that busy day became apparent.  Her check to the department store was returned by the bank with an "Incorrect Signature" notation.  She had signed the check, "Betty, Herb and the girls."

In a Roman Catholic elementary school, a few days before Christmas, the curtain was about to go up on a Nativity play.  The centerpiece of the set was a creche, complete with statues of Mary, Joseph, the three Wise Men, shepherds, sheep and other animals.  Two nuns were busy making last-minute adjustments to the children's costumes.  The school principal was standing by, keeping an eye on the preparations.  Suddenly, in a panic, one of the nuns rushed up to her and said, "Mother Superior, we forgot the Baby Jesus."  With a wry smile, Mother Superior replied,

"THAT'S EXACTLY THE TROUBLE WITH THIS WORLD!"

Christmas is nearly upon us.  And even though you may have forgotten a thing or two in your Christmas preparations, it's "Don't-forget-the-Baby-Jesus" time.  It's time to ponder the meaning of the Incarnation, for your life and for the lives of all others.

In today's Gospel Lesson -- Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus Christ -- we read ...

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son and they will call Him Immanuel, a name which means "God-is-with-us" (Mt. 1:23).

We ponder the Mystery of the Incarnation as we prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate on Christmas Day the indescribable Gift of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The Mystery of the Incarnation is at the very heart of our Christian Faith.  God gave us His Son to be our Immanuel: God with us.  And that is at the very essence of the Christmas Message.

Scripture:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1).


We were so excited when we brought the Christmas tree home, but it never went into the house until the next day. My Dad knew the tree would never last unless it soaked up plenty of sugar water. So he cut a few inches off the bottom and soaked it in sugar water until the next night. I still recall holding in my hands that piece of dead stump he had cut off. It was only an inch or two high, but it was definitely dead.

The Old Testament Lesson speaks about a dead tree stump, "There shall come forth shoot from the stump of Jesse."

Jesse was the father of King David and all his descendants who ruled over Judah-the Southern Kingdom. When those kings turned away from God to lead their people in the worship of false idols, the Lord cut off their kingship and sent His people into exile. The strong family tree was cut off and only a dead stump remained. For centuries not a single king rose from that stump to rule on their throne. All that could be seen was the dead stump of the line of David.

But in the fullness of time a shoot began to grow out of that stump. That shoot was Jesus Christ. He was born a baby and laid to sleep in Bethlehem's manger. He didn't come to claim any earthly kingdom as His own. Instead, he came as our King to battle our enemies: Satan, sin, death, and hell.

Though He Himself was cut down on the cross, and His lifeless body was laid in the tomb, Christ rose again from the grave with power and great glory. Through Baptism He makes us alive to God though we were dead in our sins. Through His Word He makes us wise in the ways of His salvation, and in Holy Communion He gives us His body and blood by which He paid for our sins and won our redemption. Now He lives to guide us on our journey to our heavenly home.

THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son as a tender shoot out of a dead tree stump. He has saved us from our sins and opened the Kingdom of heaven to us. Help us tell the whole world of His wonderful salvation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

by Pastor Ken Klaus