Cosmic Connections: A Christmas Eve Meditation

It was Christmas Day in the afternoon. Presents had been opened and their detritus had been cleared. The yule feast was in the rearview mirror and a young boy could finally embrace the desire of his heart: a giant bucket of Legos left under the tree by Santa.
I am going to build a Tower. Said the boy. But not just any tower….the tallest Lego tower EVER!
Great. Said his sleepy-eyed dad from the couch where he lay watching football. Have at it!
The boy began stacking the colorful plastic bricks and as the tower grew taller, his dad became more awake. Before long, dad and son were on their knees together in the middle of the floor, strategizing and structuring the world’s greatest Lego tower.
It seemed like they had been at it for just a few minutes when mom came in to announce bed time.
But the tower….we aren’t finished with it! Cried the boy.
It will keep. Said mom as she hustled her son off to brush teeth, wash face, and settle in for a long winter’s nap.
Dad remained. A man on a mission.
When are you coming to bed? His wife asked.
Soon….he replied in the way a pre-occupied man replies…..soon.
The next morning his son woke up and stumbled downstairs to find every Lego brick had been used by his dad to build what did seem to be the tallest tower ever made in one’s own living room. Next to it sat his father…eyes filled with anticipation for the kudos that would surely pour from his son’s lips.
Dad …. We were supposed to do it together. Said the boy and then he walked away.

Relationship. It’s more than sharing genetic material or sitting in the desk next to another person day after day after day. It’s more than an annual birthday phone call or Christmas card. It’s even more than living in the same house together for 30 years.
Relationship is about investment….of presence, of self.
Relationship is about being there...together.
Relationship is a connection, a connectedness.

In the stories of Christmas we read about a God who had been denied relationship with his own creation by their acts of disobedience. That cosmic rip in the universe that began with Adam and Eve extended through time and space to create a great gulf between God and God’s own. Amazingly, we read that God took the initiative, understanding love more than anger or hate or resentment or revenge….entering into a whole new place: a human body….that of a baby who would grow to become a man. He did it all for relationship, to connect once again with his own dear children who had gone off on their own….building towers and living lives and following their momentary desires.
What a mess we made of things.

Much like the dad who worked through the night to fulfill his personal quest for success, thus missing the opportunity for connection with his own son who was now heading into the kitchen to eat a lonely breakfast.
An hour or so later, the dad came to his son’s room with a gift, all wrapped up in Christmas paper.
The son, a bit confused but clearly interested, took the package, opened it and found a whole new bucket of Legos.
Let’s start over. Said the dad.
And so they did. Dad and son spent the whole morning stacking tiny plastic bricks to make a tall, tall tower right next the one made the night before. And when both towers were complete and stood side by side….the son said, we aren’t finished.
He gathered a few more Legos together and built a simple arch which he used to connect the two towers…forming a bridge.

Did you know Legos were invented by a Danish carpenter in 1940? His name was Kirk Christiansen and he called his new toy Lego as a play on words because in his language it means “play well” and in Latin, “I put together.”

That is the act we celebrate tonight - a distant father, separated from his children because of their own poor choices…. made a decision: to come and be with them in their brokenness, their disobedience, their self-appointed and self-determined exile. For God so loved us….God couldn’t stay away. God reached out….bridging the gulf, putting together what had been torn asunder.
God, in Christ, is the bridge that says this is a relationship -- one of such monumental importance that I would cross heaven and hell, all of eternity, the entire cosmos …..to be with you. And he did just that.

Based on an anonymous story I heard years ago....credit offered up to whomever told the story first!

Advent of The Way

A Parable of Expectation
The Kingdom of heaven is like a church who received a message from God saying My son is coming to be with you. Prepare ye the way.
The members of the church became excited. God’s son is coming here…to our house of worship! And then they asked, “What does it mean: Prepare ye the way?”
Some people said: we must prepare a feast!
Others wanted to learn and perform beautiful music.
Some suggested the church must be made more presentable
and there were those who wanted to announce to the entire community “the king’s son is coming! Please, be our guests. Come and join us so you can be in his presence as well!”

In the spirit of expectation and anticipation much busy-ness ensued. No expense was spared – only the best would do for the son of God.
Great prayers began to be prayed….prayers of repentance, prayers for and of forgiveness, prayers of gratitude.
Hearts were opened and everyone shared one enormous hope: that he or she would have the great privilege of serving God’s own son when he came to visit.
Men did what lots of men do: they repaired what was broken and moved what needed to be moved. They hammered and sawed and drilled and dug. They painted and leveled and sanded and polished while all the while women came along side and did what lots of women do: they cleaned and sorted and washed and swept. They dusted and arranged and organized and shopped.
Cooks cooked and singers rehearsed. Teachers prepared and leaders led.
And amidst all of the preparations friendships long forgotten were renewed, wounds long neglected were healed, grudges long nurtured were abandoned and forgiveness long overdue was offered and accepted.

Perhaps most remarkably, on the day the guest of honor was to come strangers were welcomed and the hungry were fed. The poor were included right along with the rich. The blind were led by the sighted and the lame were wheeled in or carried in the arms of kind friends and family.
The sick were given places right up front in hope that the holy one’s healing touch could reach them. And all the people were one in Spirit because of Him who was expected.

They waited and waited and waited even more.
And when it seemed that all had been in vain, they cried in one voice: “O God, where is He who was promised? We long to see, to know, to touch. To serve and to be whole!”
The still, small voice of God answered:
“My children - my dear, dear saints,
My son has been among you all the while.
When you gathered together…. he was there also.
When you served your brothers and sisters, it was he who was served.
When you welcomed the blind, the lame, the poor, the stranger you welcomed him.
When words of reconciliation and restoration and healing and love were spoken they resounded in his own ears and in mine.
When the hearts of a people are one and they seek not their own good but the good that is born of love, my spirit dances and all of heaven is glad.
Beloved,
My message was simple: prepare ye the way.
THE WAY is not a path or a place or a pageant.
THE WAY is not a doctrine or a dogma or a decree.
THE WAY is not a sermon or a sonnet or a song.
THE WAY is the heart. And to prepare THE WAY is to let love be all there is..
When this happens “paths are made straight, valleys are raised up, every mountain and hill is made low, and the rough ground becomes level. The glory of the Lord is revealed so all mankind will see it.”
This is what the Kingdom of God is like.
And He who testified to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon. Amen.”
Come, Lord Jesus. We are expecting you. Even now.