Preparing Room – A Christmas Prayer

“Christmas is not simply about a birth but about a coming.” -Tim Keller

Here’s the truth — there is no arrival without departure.

Abraham left Ur for the land the Lord his God would show him and a covenant that would alter the course of history.

Joseph was torn from his home at the hands of jealous brothers but delivered into the land of his destiny.

Moses fled Egypt to escape the shadow of one seemingly unpardonable sin only to arrive at the doorstep of encounter in a burning bush that would become the inception point of God’s plan to redefine His identity and to deliver His people.

Life as we know it is an endless cycle of arrivals and departures. Life is constant change and a continuous internal process of discernment in which we evaluate, with God, which limitations are to be kept and which boundaries are meant to reach beyond the borders of all we’ve known as our faith expands to fit the size of all we say we believe.

And the seed of this conversation has roots in God’s grand entrance into our world as He moved beyond the expected and the familiar to redeem the story of a helpless, homesick world. 

Luke 2:13-20 ushers us into the moment God ordered all of Heaven to participate in the first and only rescue of its kind:

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The fulfillment of the law and the prophets. The One through whom all things were made. The Son of God stooped down low to wrap Himself in our skin — to know the depth of our longings and to write redemption into a Post-Eden world.

In a season where the holy weight of Jesus’ arrival can become blurred by a flurry of traditions and to-do lists I want to offer you the gift of intention through the invitation to pause and spend some time in prayer with God over the following prayerful reflection:  

God, we thank you for your extravagant grace. Everything about your coming speaks to your relational heart. In this season, we invite your presence into the layers of meaning and mystery as we contemplate Jesus’ humanity and divinity. You sent your Son as a supernatural, unrepeatable miracle, a miracle with a beating heart who lived among us to understand the height of our celebration and the depth of our sorrow. Jesus we thank you for coming to demonstrate the compassion of the Father in a million different human ways. Holy Spirit we ask you to reveal Jesus to us as we prepare room in our hearts for Your real time wisdom and revelation. We delight in you, Jesus, and together we sing the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” We pray this in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Amen


Tanya Godsey 
Freedom Movement's Spiritual Director