December 25th

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

We all have images that we grew up with that shaped our faith. Which of us can read this scripture without picturing Jesus standing at a wooden door after darkness has fallen, raising his hand to knock. We have seen this picture many times in inspirational art, bulletin covers, and Sunday School lessons. In fact, we are so used to the image that we tend to forget the second half of the scripture; “I will come in and eat with you, and you with me”

Jesus is not some door-to-door salesman for religion. He is the guest...the family member... that we have been waiting for to complete our celebration...whether we knew it or not. We don’t normally invite random salespeople to come in and join us for dinner. We share meals with those who are closest to us. And for special celebrations, we surround ourselves with close friends and family. Jesus does not come bringing gold embossed Bibles to sell. He comes with joy, and peace, and hope, and love to share, the kind of things that make a family celebration meaningful. He comes to eat with us because that is what families do together.

During the Passover meal in Jewish tradition, a seat is left open for the prophet Elijah to fill. He is the prophet of hope. Elijah is seen as the prophet who will announce the return of the Messiah. Today, we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our world and into our lives. He comes to share great blessings with us. He comes to complete our family celebration. Leave a place for him in your heart, if not at your table. But if you do keep an empty seat, you never know who might knock on your door, come in, and become part of your family.

Merry Christmas and God bless us, everyone!