Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-7 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Throughout human history, God has been at work.  This common thread, at times intersecting with the political realities of the day, is woven into the everyday life of the rich and poor, as God works to gather all people back.  There are times in our common history where we wonder if the thread is broken, but God is still at work, sometimes in subtle and quiet ways, working to sew threads of peace and justice, that unmerited grace and unlimited favor may be the colors that define our lives.  When we look back, we can see how God has been at work, and we know the promises of God will continue to call us forward, creating something beautiful and unbounded, defined by the love that God is and shares freely.
  You are loved, and that is seen fully here in Luke's Gospel, as Mary and Joseph make their journey.  Our hearts go with them, eager to peak into the manger where that baby begins, seeing all the universe held is those tiny, vulnerable hands, knowing that the cries of life that emanated from a plain manger would one day echo inside a newly hewn tomb, where new life would again cry out in triumph after the trial was complete.  On Christmas Eve, we look forward to new life after birth, and it reminds us that through Christ, there is new life after death.
  May we rejoice in the baby, knowing the promise of Christmas only grows.