 Years
ago Canadian news told of a large moose that
wandered into a residential area in Calgary, Canada.
The moose ended up on the lawn of a lady who called
the Fish and Wildlife agency. An officer was
dispatched to try to coax the magnificent animal
back into the wild. After two hours of absolutely no
progress, the officer finally shot the moose with a
tranquilizer dart and the moose eventually collapsed
on the lawn.
The reporters who had been following this event
interviewed the woman at the house. They asked her
what she thought about the moose which had passed
out on her lawn. “I’m surprised,” she answered, “but
not as surprised as my husband will be. He’s out
moose hunting.”
Her husband had gone out looking for moose and a
large moose had come to him. That is the message of
Christmas. While humanity spends its time wanting to
find God, God comes to us.
I know we can sometimes wonder where God is. We can
wish he would do more to make himself known in these
days as he did in the past. We wouldn’t be the first
to wish that. Even the Old Testament prophet Isaiah
prayed: “Oh, that you would
burst from the heavens and come down! How the
mountains would quake in your presence! As fire
causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming
would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies
would learn the reason for your fame! When you came
down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our
highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains
quaked!” (Isaiah 64:1-3)
Isaiah is lamenting that too many years have come
and gone without a sign of God’s presence. He was
longing for God to make himself real in some
tangible way. Have you ever been there? Like Isaiah,
have you ever wondered where God is? Have you tried
to pray and felt nothing, seen nothing, or sensed
nothing?
We cry out to God to “burst from the heavens and
come down” to give us some evidence that he is real
and present. But most of the time, we feel as if God
is hiding from us.
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Maybe the problem is with us? Maybe because we have so many other
voices, noises in our life, God would have to shout to be heard?
Maybe God’s preferred way to come to us is more often in a whisper
rather than shaking the earth or tearing open the skies? Maybe it’s
easy to miss God’s voice when it comes to us!
Like the teenager with the loud booming car or the one with head
phones too loud, they slowly damage their hearing to the point they
miss the subtle sounds of creation near them. If we are never free
from the blare of the world around us, if we are constantly being
bombarded with racket, we can become numbed to quiet voices. And in
the middle of the noise and commotion, God comes down only to be
missed.
This Christmas could be different. You could experience God if you
wanted. It would mean pulling away from all the noise. You’ll have
to place yourself in an environment where God has your attention.
Maybe you could attend a Christmas worship service this year? After
all, God has said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm
46:10) That seems to put the next move in your court.
What a wonderful way to approach Christmas. Turn off the noise, tune
into God, and discover the very one you want to see is already near.
When human kind couldn’t reach God, God came down to us. Christmas
is about having that awareness awaken again. God came down to us. He
came down to me. And He is nearer than he appears to be.
[Ron Otto, Lincoln Christian Church] |
