Think about the Shepherds. They were following their routine, working the midnight shift, when an angel told them to go to Bethlehem and find a king in a feed trough. That’s an interruption!
Think about the Wise Men. They were studying the stars (a well-ordered occupation), when God said: “Get those baby gifts wrapped, saddle up those animals and follow the star.” That’s an interruption!
Christmas is all about interruptions. Many of us are familiar with the Christmas story found in Luke Chapter 2. There is another Christmas story found in John Chapter 1. It is less familiar to many people. You could call it “the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version” of the Christmas story. Here is how it goes:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1-4, 14a).
The word “flesh” as it appears in this passage is the Greek word “carne,” which literally means: “raw meat”. That first Christmas, God became “raw meat” and made his dwelling among us. That’s an interruption — God breaking into our world, so that He could be broken for us upon a cross, so that the wall of our sin that separated us from Him could be broken down, so that He could break into our hearts with his pardon and presence.
Christmas is all about interruptions because God is a God of interruptions! So here are three concrete actions to which the interruptions of Christmas call you.
First of all, the interruptions of Christmas call you to
Acknowledge Your Need for God to Break Into Your Life
Go ahead and admit it. You like to develop your plans, routines, schedules and imaginary control over circumstances around you and then think that your salvation and security is in these things. If you doubt this, just consider what it has been like for you the past few weeks leading up to Christmas.
You can probably relate to the story of a little girl whose mother was busy getting ready for Christmas — cooking, cleaning, shopping and wrapping presents. She was so wrapped up in it all that she was getting stressed and irritable. Her daughter, excited by the Season, was also misbehaving. Finally, the mother lost her temper and sent her daughter to her room, telling her to stay there and not come out.