Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. Those suffering grew to love him and revered the sacrificial life he lived out before them. One morning before Damien was to lead daily worship, he was pouring some hot water into a cup when the water swirled out and fell onto his bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had not felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what this could mean, he poured more hot water on the same spot. No feeling at all. Damien immediately knew what had happened. As he tearfully delivered his sermon that morning, no one at first noticed the difference in his opening line. He normally began every sermon with, "My fellow believers." But this morning he began with, "My fellow lepers." In a greater measure Jesus came into this world knowing what it would cost him. He bore in his pure being the marks of evil, so we might be made pure. "For this I came into the world," he said (John 18:37).
The Scriptures tell us about a God that so loved humanity that instead of just encountering humans, He experienced humanity! God came to experience the pain, pressures and difficulties of our lives so He could be the Savior of the world that we needed. There is no greater way that God can becoming one of us except by coming and living among us. So during this Christmas season, let us remember that the greatest demonstration of God's love to humanity was the gift of His Son Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas and God Bless You!!
Pastor John J. Dodd
1 comment:
There are those who contend that Christians should not celebrate Christmas because it originated with a pagan holiday. Their argument is that Jesus' birth was not important, that it's His resurrection that brings us salvation. My answer to that is that He had to be born before He could be crucified and resurrected. Thank God for the virgin birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
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