Reflections by the Pond
December 24, 2003

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Christmas: One Night at an Inn

The night sky was rising, shifting out of empty black into the lighter hues of another day, and the eastern horizon was just beginning to turn a deep, burning orange when Simon returned to his inn.

It had seemed that for the last few hours the interior of his stable had been the navel of the world--a deep, secret place from which all life began and flowed. It had seemed as if the rest of the universe had come to a halt, that time itself had stood still as a handful of peasants knelt in silent wonder at a baby, fresh and simple, and looking no different than any other baby born that night anywhere else in the world.

But something had been different. Because it could not be quantified, because it could not be listed in a tidy column of numbers and brought to a total at the end, Simon was helpless to explain what he had experienced. But even he knew it had been real.

Have I seen Messiah? Could this fragile, little child really be the One? He's too small for a king. But they say He is--the shepherds say this little child is really the Savior, the Christ! How can it be? How can one so small solve the problems of such a big world? Forget the world--what about my problems! What can He do for me? Simon pressed his hands against his aching head. And why is He still in my mind?

Joanna, his wife, slipped silently in the door. She seemed somehow different to Simon, but he couldn't say how. There was something about her that reminded him of that night long ago when she had given birth to their son, Nathanael. A gentle peace enveloped her face.

"You knew all along," he said to her.

"I told you, Simon."

"I guess I had to see it for myself. I guess no one can speak as clearly as the Savior Himself." He snorted, embarrassed that he was already believing. "Listen to me. He's just a baby!"

"No!" Joanna said forcefully. "No, He's so much more. You heard the shepherds, you saw the star yourself, you can feel God's presence in that child. Why do you still resist?"

"Because--," Simon blurted out. "because I can't bear the thought that it's going to be that easy!"

"For what?"

"I wanted God to sweep His arm down, to wipe my enemies off the face of the earth! I wanted Him to send a strong, roaring king to conquer the Romans and lift us back to the power our people once knew. I wanted God to send a comforting wind that would, somehow, change my life."

"I think He has," Joanna said softly. "Oh, we don't see it--we can't. We can't see what that baby will become. But Simon," she said, going to him, "there is a wind, and it's blowing through Bethlehem tonight. And you've felt it--you can feel the change already taking place."

"Yes," he said seriously, "and it frightens me."

"It's what you've been looking for all along."

"I can feel the old ways slipping away--and it frightens me."

"Yes," she chuckled knowingly, "it's so much easier for us to cling to our imperfections. But I think what you're feeling--what we're both feeling--is the redemption of that child entering our hearts."

"Well, if that's what it is," Simon smiled, "there're a lot of layers for it to get through."

"But you can feel it."

"In the stable, when I looked down into that old manger," Simon said thoughtfully, "I looked into His eyes, and it was the most amazing thing. I remember when Nathanael had just been born, his eyes seemed to be a blank slate, waiting for something to be written there. But when I looked at that child in the straw, He looked right back at me--right into my eyes! It was almost as if He were speaking to me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but, it was like looking into eternity itself. And it was then," Simon's voice went suddenly quiet. "It was then He became a part of me. Suddenly, all the other things in my life became very small--all the pressures, the problems, all the burdens of living became, well, livable. Because of Him."

And outside the inn, as the first rays of the morning sun pierced the gray half-light of dawn, the sleepy village slowly awakened to a new day.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 nasb