Wilmot First Presbyterian Church

Scripture: Philippians 2:8

Cross

Without the cross there can still be a manger.  Without the cross there can still be Mary and Joseph, shepherds, wiseman and even a baby.  Without the cross, however, there is no Christmas.  Even so, we rarely talk about the cross at Christmas.  This is the “mass of Christ”, but only because of the cross of Christ.

At Christmas we celebrate peace, we celebrate grace, we celebrate God taking our plight, we celebrate innocence.  In a real way, however, these things are as much cross as manger. 

There is no peace where there is no wholeness.  Only through the cross of Christ do we find relationship with God and our wholeness/peace. 

In the cross and resurrection we celebrate salvation as a gift to us; this is grace defined. 

In the cross we celebrate atonement, the purchasing of our sins and the death we deserved for them.  Only one who is innocent has an account big enough to pay this debt.  There is no difference between the innocence of the baby in Bethlehem’s manger and that of the man on the cross.

We have to take the cross and put it in the manger with the infant and we have to take the infant in the manger and put him on the cross.  The two go together, as offensive to our sentiments as that may be, because in innocence and God’s judgement, they ARE together.  To imagine an infant sacrificed for us hanging on a cross is nauseating.  Little wonder we avoid the cross at Christmas.

One of the things people who have seen really hard times tell me makes good times so good is having survived difficult times.  It’s like realizing how bright daylight is by stumbling out of a dark movie theater.  Christmas is a celebration of joy in the season, but the joy comes through the horror of the cross.  The joy of Christmas IS the joy of Easter.  While we enjoy the festivities of Christmas, we utterly depend upon the joy of Easter and the empty tomb.  When the angels celebration spills over into the shepherd’s hill their song is not just for Christmas, it is for the cross and the glory and joy of a manger in a Bethlehem cave is dependent upon and empty cave 34 years or so later.  No cross, no cave; no cave, no Christ; no Christ, no Christmas.

Before we burst into the glory of Christmas, we pause in the dark.  The good times were never so good!

Prayer: Holy God, we thank You for coming to die for our sins.  Help us keep the cross ever before us in every and all seasons so that we never lose our joy.  We pray in the name of our Risen Lord, AMEN

Activity: Find or make a cross ornament and hang it on your tree.