In One Moment
In one moment, one seemingly insignificant measurement on the span of time, "The Word became flesh". In that moment, undiminished Deity became humanity. What an incomprehensible thought!
In one moment, the one for whom are all things and by whom are all things, became a thing —like you and me—God with us.
In one moment, "the Lord of Glory became a child of earth. The tiny Babe lying in the manger of Bethlehem was the One without whom was not anything made that was made. The tiny, chubby baby hand upon the cheek of the virgin mother was the hand of Him who holds the universe in the hollow of his hand. The baby arm about the mother’s neck was the arm of the one whose everlasting arms are underneath all things. The lisping words of the toddling Child of Nazareth were the words of the One who spoke the earth into being and who created a universe by the Word of His mouth."
That one moment was not filled with pomp and ceremony. You see he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant. Jesus Christ was made a little lower than the angels and it behooved him to be made like his brethren —that is, like you and me.
We don’t like to think of him as being "just like us" but the "King of the Jews" sometimes had a dirty diaper. The "Rose of Sharon" sometimes needed a bath. The "Altogether Lovely One" sometimes needed to comb his hair, brush his teeth and wash his face. There may have been times when he had a cold or the flu or maybe even heartburn. Did you ever wonder if Joseph sometimes chided Him for not planing the board smoothly enough, or for not framing the window squarely enough? Did he have a big nose, funny teeth or bad hair days? I wonder if he had any cavities.
In one moment, that which was holy became human, spirit became flesh. The very God of very Gods entered the womb of a peasant girl.
In one moment, God took on skin and hair, teeth and toenails.
In one moment, the invisible God became the visible, touchable, pierce-able, whip-able, nail-able, Emanuel—God with us.
In one moment divinity took on the garb of humanity so that depravity might be rendered savable. The handwriting that was written against us could now be blotted out. But that blotting would not be accomplished with ink, it would not be accomplished with decrees from the courts of the finite, it would not be accomplished by the justice of the unjust, it would be accomplished, it was blotted out because in one moment the Word became flesh.
In one moment true grace appeared and we received grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
In one moment the personification of truth was revealed and now we no longer stumble in darkness. The truth of Christ is like the light of the sun multiplied by infinity, in him is no darkness at all. He is the true Light, which lights every person that comes into the world.
When the Word of God says that the Prince of Heaven humbled himself, what it is saying is simply: God with us.
In one moment God became a man. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
In one moment God became a man, fully man without sin together with undiminished deity.
In one moment, time stood still, the course of history was forever changed, and you and I were never the same people once Jesus entered the world and entered our lives.
Jimmy Gupton tells of when he was 93 and ready to go on home to God. For the 1000th time, he had prayed for God to take him home. His wife had been gone for 7 years and it was getting harder and harder to go through the motions of the holiday. He had a big silver Chritsmas tree in the attaic but attaching the 150 branches was a big job and it was almost impossible for him to see the holes to insert the branches. So he had just left it in the attic, packed away fro several years. His family was pressing for him to move in with them but he just couldn’t leave his home and lose his independence. As he sat down and watched the news, he saw a story on the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Charlotte. There were over women sleeping in the shelter, “out of work and out of hope.” Jimmy wanted to help but he didn’t have much money. He turned off the lights, said his prayers and then climbed into bed. But instead of falling asleep, he kept seeing the women at the shelter. “Those women were needing help, just like me,” he thought. And then an idea came into his head. What if two needy folks put their needs together? What if one of those women moved in and took care of the house in exchange for a place to live?
The next morning he called the shelter. They called back a few days later inquiring about a married couple, she a waitress and he a carpenter and both had gotten laid off at the same time, evicted form their home and were sleeping at the shelter. Jimmy said, he hadn’t counted on two people. It wasn’t that big a house and the room was barely big enough for one. But the counselor said I though the wife could care for the house and the husband for the yard. “send them over ad we’ll give it a try.” And try they did as soon they were talking like only friends. It was nice to have someone care for the house and yard and cook the meals. They cared even enough to take him to the senior center and to church on Sundays.
About three months after they had come, Pam said she need to talk. Jimmy was worried that they were going to move out. Pam said, “I don’t know how to say this. I know I should have told you from the beginning but I was afraid you wouldn’t let us stay. But I can’t put this off any longer. You see, I’m…I’m… going to have a baby.” Jimmy said, “Well you’re right about one things, I certainly hadn’t counted on three. But I can’t put you back n the street, not with a baby coming.” His mind was shouting, “A baby, where will we put a baby?” Pam said, I know there’s not much room here but if I move the dresser out of the bedroom , I’ll have room for crib. I’ll try to kee the baby quiet so as not to disturb you. The months flew by and Pam shifted the furniture in the bedroom to make room for a crib and then began to wallpaper and paint all over the house. And before he knew it, Sabrina was born and she grew to 3 months old, then to five months old and then it was the middle of December and almost Christmas again.
Jimmy was sitting in the living room reading the Christmas story out of the Gospel of Luke when he read, “and laid him in a manger because there was not room for them in the inn.” That must have saddened God, he thought. Even as crowded as the inn was, he knew that wasn’t the point of the story. What God wanted far more than room at the inn was for people to opne their hearts and make room for His son. Perhaps that was what God had been trying to get him to do. While he had opened his house, maybe God wanted him to open his heart to them.
He walked over to the stairs and called to Tony and Pam. “Is something wrong?” You bet, he said, it’s almost Christmas and we don’t have a tree up! “We thought about that, Tony said, but trees are so expensive.” Well I know a beautiful tree just waiting to be put up. When it’s standing with colored light beaming across its silver branches, you never saw anything so beautiful. So Tony and Pam went up in the attic, got the tree and together all three of them put it together. When Jimmy utnred on the lights, he heard the oohs and ahhs.
About that time, there was a hungry cry from upstair. Pam went to go get Sabrina. When she came down, Jimmy motioned for the baby to free Pam up to go heat up a bottle. Sabrina sat in his lap just eyeing each other silently. He felt kind of awkward because it had been a long time since he had held and talked to a child. Sabrina looked at him and Jimmy thought she might start to cry but instead she began to laugh and reached her little hand to his cheek. Jimmy laughed too as he realized she was trying to catch the lights from the tree reflecting off his face.
And then he writes, (in that moment) her touch made me think of another child, born on Christmas so many years ago,. Tony was arranging candles in the window and Pam was humming a carol in the kitchen. And I whispered a prayer, “Thank you Lord for letting me see another Christmas. ..for leaving me here though I fussed and fretted. Sometimes it takes a baby to remind an old man what your world is really about” in that one moment when Christ was born. Oh, Praise his name for that one moment!
