But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering...
Leviticus 12:8 NIV
Not the most popular Christmas Day verse.
Luke 2 tells us that when Jesus parents took him to the temple, they didn't have a lamb.
They had a pair of birds.
They had the offering that the poor took.
Christmas has become about buying and consuming, almost an exercise of power.
If I can't give you the lamb, if my gift isn't goid enough, I'm not good enough.
There's that word again. Shame.
In His divinity he left the glories of heaven for the broken reality of what his world had become.
Humbled
In his humanity he joined a poor family in a colonised country and became a refugee.
He came as a baby, in a small, vulnerable package.
Dependent on his creation.
Adopted.
Most people in the world won't get to enjoy Christmas Day like I will.
I can't save the world.
God's plan to do that came in a small, powerless package in a poor family in a powerless place.
Today he just asks us to be willing to join him.
To bless
To encourage
Not just those in the room with you today
To give without counting
the cost
To join the upsidedown kingdom
To love without measure.
#christmas
#christmas2018
#lovewithoutmeasure