Luke 2

A little newborn baby was brought home from the hospital and tenderly placed in a bassinet. Then, his little sister ran up and looked in and said, “Please, tell me before you forget. “What is Heaven like?”

The pure and Holy do seem to get quickly lost and forgotten in our world. I remember one winter in Bluefield when our church’s nativity was covered by snow on frozen snow. It was so deeply buried that it could not be seen. We knew that baby Jesus was there, even though we could not see him.

Several years ago, I listened to a minister tell a story from her church in Florida: They were getting ready for the children’s program. The nativity was ready with a doll in the manger. Doors were open because it was warm. Suddenly a little girl ran in from the outside, grabbed the doll, and ran out. The congregation could hear her say to her friends as she ran down the street, “I got baby Jesus.”

Some members of that congregation were angered, but others had an idea of grace. The next year they planned for it to happen again. New dolls were collected and placed in and all around the manger. The advertisement was placed outside: “Come, Get the Gift of Baby Jesus.”

Advent is a time to announce that Jesus has come, and Jesus is coming again. When reading the story of the nativity, do not neglect the verse that says, “When the shepherds had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed.”

During the next couple of weeks there will be children’s Christmas plays in many churches. The Children do make wonderful and effective Advent evangelist. Please, children, tell us again, how Love came down at Christmas.