The Little Miracles of Christmas!

We all love the movies about miracles that take place at Christmastime.  I can’t wait to once again watch this year the most famous of all, “Miracle on 34^th St.”  But this year as I was decorating the outside of our house with Christmas lights, I felt like I had my own little miracle of Christmas.

Last year, just after the Christmas season was over, I took a trip to Nicaragua.  While I was away, Kim took down the outside lights. It wasn’t until one day in August, as I was working on the lawn, I discovered that the little blue spruce at the very front of our lawn still had its strands of lights on it.  Kim hadn’t seen them there.  I decided since we were only a few months away from Christmas, and since they weren’t visible to anyone, I would just leave them and replace them when the time came to put up the lights for the season.  However, as I was putting up our lights a couple of weeks ago, before taking them off the tree, I decided to plug them in to see if they just might work. Much to my surprise they did! They actually lit up!  I called it my own little miracle of Christmas! 

To some of you, all of this is really no big deal.  Maybe you leave your lights up on your house all year long, expecting them to work when the time comes.  No matter.  I just want to enjoy the moment, as I understand it.  After all, I think that there are all kinds of little miracles that take place around us that we tend to overlook—especially at Christmas.  

My little "miracle of Christmas!" 

Here’s some of the little miracles of Christmas that I see around me:  The sense of good cheer that one finds as they’re out and about during this time of year, in spite of the hectic pace and the crowds; an extra sense of generosity as people not only buy gifts for one another but donate to charities and churches and people in need; the beauty of lights decorating neighborhoods, stores, and trees; the look of excitement on that child’s face as they’re opening up their gifts on Christmas morning. The list can go on. But, what other time of the year is like Christmastime? To me, it’s truly a time of little miracles. 

And so it ought to be as we celebrate the “littlest” miracle of them all.  Don’t’ get me wrong, the coming of Jesus in to our world, the incarnation of the Son of God, was an incredibly big miracle—and one of utmost importance. And yet, his coming was also a little miracle in that he came not as a king, not with pomp and circumstance, and with no huge celebration. He came as a child, a little baby, born to a humble couple, in the lowliest of settings.  The Son of God came as the little miracle of Christmas—which was and is a truly great big deal!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”  (Isaiah 9:6 – NIV)  “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12 – NIV)

Let’s keep our eyes open for the little miracles of Christmas. Most of all, don’t miss the most important “little” miracle of them all: Jesus!

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris