The Problem of Impossibility

As we anticipate another Christmas, sometimes it seems we’re pondering the imponderable: A virgin becoming pregnant and having a child. God “becoming flesh,” being born under very ordinary circumstances in an inconspicuous setting. A stable accommodating divinity. This baby growing up, becoming peerless teacher, role model, and ultimately, Savior.

The Christmas story seems so incredible,
no one would have imagined it.

From a human perspective, it would be easy to label all of the above as impossibilities. Certainly agnostics and atheists prefer to relegate the New Testament narrative to “myth” or “fable.” Yet once again, on Dec. 25, countless millions will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Many of them can attest to the life-changing, transformational impact of being followers of Jesus.

No other person’s life has influenced mankind to the magnitude of the carpenter from Nazareth, the one called “the good shepherd,” “the way, the truth and the life,” “the true vine,” “the Lamb of God,” “the light of the world.”

Still, God taking on human form? It seems so…impossible. But then, that’s what God is all about – doing the impossible, existing and working beyond the scope of human comprehension. As the angel responded in Luke 1:37 when Mary asked how she, a virgin, could bear a child: “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Later in the same book, Jesus made a similar declaration: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

There, in just a handful of words, we find the crux of the dilemma. We are asked, by faith, to believe in the seemingly impossible, trusting in a God unlimited by time, space, or circumstances. Disbelief doesn’t daunt Him; sin doesn’t stalemate Him.

Years ago, “Mission: Impossible” was a popular TV series. More recently, films starring Tom Cruise have carried the same title. But when it comes to carrying out missions impossible, Jesus Christ must rank as the all-time champion.   

Black Fridays and Blue Christmases

My wife and I did not get caught up in the “Black Friday” craziness this year. We did get “amongst ‘em” a bit later in the day, just for a glimpse of the aftermath, but didn’t join the jamming of the stores late Thursday evening, or before the crack of dawn on Friday. (I prefer to listen for the “crack” first, and then get out of bed.)

I don’t know who invented this annual hysteria, but whoever it was (he/she/they), what an incredible idea. Feed on American materialism, stir in generous doses of greed, selfishness and covetousness, and you have a recipe to suit any retailer’s taste - and bottom line.

Instead of Santa Claus, shouldn't the symbols
of Christmas be the manger - and the cross?

Seriously, I don’t condemn those who make the “ultimate sacrifice” of forgoing sleep and such, in the quest for incredible bargains. Who doesn’t like saving money? But I wonder: Is this what Jesus had in mind on that first Christmas?

Recently I came across a quote from Roy L. Smith concerning Christmas in which he stated, “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” I’d not heard of Mr. Smith before, but I totally agree.

Over the next several weeks, many of us will be searching for the perfect gift for a loved one or friend, but the truth is, Christmas really isn’t about stuff. I wish the Bible said that, but I can’t find those exact words. The general idea is there, however.

The apostle Paul, for example, wrote, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). He also stated, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). In other words, Paul was determined to “keep the main thing the main thing,” and not become distracted by lesser things.

Elvis Presley, among others, sang, “I’ll have a blue Christmas without you.” As the magic day draws near, let’s resolve to keep Christ in Christmas. It will be a blue Christmas without Him.