Giant Christmas trees. Times Square in NYC has decked the halls. The tallest Christmas tree in America is in Idaho. But it’s all about the spectacular. It’s always been about the spectacular. The big. The great. The large. Well, if that’s what you think Christmas is all about then your God is too big. Because Christmas is a lot smaller than you think. And Christmas means a lot more than the world will ever celebrate.
We’ve been watching the Great Christmas Light Fight. Have you ever watched it before? There are actually a few homes here in San Diego that have been featured on it—one not far from where we live. But it’s a TV show that showcases America’s most fantastic and bright light shows and Christmas decorations. One family had over 400 inflatables in their front yard. Others had Christmas decorations all inside. Others had a show that looked like the Bellagio in Vegas, only with Christmas colors and reindeers.
Giant Christmas trees. Times Square in NYC has decked the halls. The tallest Christmas tree in America is in Idaho. But it’s all about the spectacular. It’s always been about the spectacular. The big. The great. The large. Well, if that’s what you think Christmas is all about then your God is too big. Because Christmas is a lot smaller than you think. And Christmas means a lot more than the world will ever celebrate.
Christmas is a Lot Smaller Than You Think
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
God isn’t into the big like all that. God is into the small. He enters into the tiny spaces, the insignificant crevices of life itself.
Author Frederick Buechner wrote, “The Word became flesh. Ultimate Mystery born with a skull you could crush one-handed.”
The God who made the entire world chose to become small, fragile, and dependent. The God who made our bodies to process and discard food became so small that he fit into the womb of a young girl named Mary. The eternal Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus had to have his own diaper changed. Think about that for a second…
God humbled himself, made himself so small that he had to have a human change his diapers. Christmas is a lot smaller than you’d think. This child is the almighty God. This child in the manger is God himself. This child was all-powerful, yet powerless. This child commands all strength yet was weak.
So when we think of the incarnation—that’s a big word that means God became human, the Word was enfleshed—there’s nothing of what people tend to think of God going on. His birth was ordinary—the body of Jesus grew like all baby bodies do. So Christmas is a lot smaller than you think. And Christmas means a lot more than the world will ever celebrate.
