Christmas is all about surprises: the surprisingly warm, rainy weather this year; the unexpected visitor; the surprising engagement; most of all the many surprises found under Christmas trees. We go to great length to disguise gifts with boxes and bags and creative ways of wrapping so that the present will be a big surprise. Surprise is inherent in our Christmas celebrations.

            That first Christmas so many years ago was also filled with surprises. The Israelites expected a Savior to arrive who would conquer the oppressive Romans and would truly save them from the difficulty of their lives. God comes to earth, not as a full grown powerful king, but as a helpless, wiggly, red faced newborn! He is born not in a palace but in a  smelly stable with cattle and a sheep or two. His parents are not famous but a rather poor, humble couple. They come not from Rome or Jerusalem but from an obscure village in a small country. The first guests to arrive are not people of renown but shepherds from the fields, a rather shabby and homeless lot. His birth was so normal it went unrecognized by most people at the time; it was so unexpected.

            All this points to the fact that Jesus was a real human being; He became one like us in all things but sin. He entered this world like each of us did. Yet through that humanity He brought  His divinity and He chose to make His dwelling place among and within us. “A child is born for us; a Son is given to us”

            And the message this Christ child would bring to the world was also surprising. Love your enemies, pray for those who hate you. Peace on earth, not war and aggression. Reach out to the lowly and downtrodden. Treat everyone equally and with respect. I have come that you might have life and live it to the full.

            It is surprising that so many hundreds of years later, the message is still relevant to our lives. The ideals which Jesus preached remain the guiding force of our lives.  Looking around, we clearly have not made them a reality in our world; but as His followers we continue to strive to live by them.

            Each Christmas we celebrate anew the mystery and wonder of His birth; we relive the details of that birth; and we rededicate ourselves to living out His message.

            May we be surprised to see what a difference that message can make in our lives every day.