Clergy Christmas Message: Christmas Miracles

What miracle does the world need this Christmas?

Several weeks ago I asked our congregation to make a Christmas Miracle wish list. People wrote their lists of three or four wishes on cards, and we prayed over them in worship. Here are some of the responses.

Compassion for fellow humankind.

Love for all; peace; no war.

Reaching out to others; sacrifice of one’s resources to help others.

Hope.

Love and expressions of love for the marginalized.

Tolerance for all.

Faith, love, trust, compassion.

End of armed conflicts.

End of hunger.

Protection of children.

Feed the hungry; help the afflicted; renew hope; comfort the brokenhearted.

We tend to romanticize and sanitize the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, but He was born into a world with concrete problems — a world of poverty and violence. The tragic events of the school shootings in Connecticut are just one tangible reminder that our world is desperately in need of Christ’s hope.

Today, God intervenes in the human condition through ordinary people like you and me. Putting God and others before us sets the stage for miracles to happen.

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas and begin the new year, what is on your miracle wish list? We have the power to do amazing things if we are willing to sacrifice some of our own comfort for the good of others. I invite you to join me in praying for one or two God-initiated hopes and dreams that can become a reality in this community and beyond through you.

God bless you as you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.