Where is Jesus this Christmas?

December 18, 2006

By William E. Richardson

We live in a world of turmoil.

Daily, millions of people struggle to survive. Every minute people around the world are manipulated, hated, murdered. Injuries and illnesses rob the quality of life from others. Disappointment keeps knocking. Finances dwindle. Family members die. Questions abound.

People will ask during this Christmas season where God is in the mix. They’ll wonder where Jesus, whose birth we celebrate, is amid the turbulence. There are answers.

This Christmas, Jesus will be present in humble places. He came to earth as a helpless baby. He wasn’t born in a palace or a major city. His parents were of meager means. We know from His birth and upbringing that Jesus can identify with the lowliest of us.

As an adult, Jesus specialized in helping the needy and the downtrodden. He gave new hope to grieving parents, blind beggars, and dying lepers.

Yes, Jesus will be in humble places this Christmas. He’ll embrace crying children. He’ll feed the hungry. He’ll supply gifts to the poor. He’ll visit the sick and the dying.

This Christmas, Jesus will be in ungodly places. Two thousand years ago, He broke religious barriers of His day. He ate with sinful tax collectors. He talked with prostitutes. He befriended the prejudiced Samaritans. He boldly went to people who needed to know God.

This year, Jesus will visit prisons to talk to convicted murderers. He’ll reach out to others with ungodly addictions. This Christmas, Jesus will be present in ungodly places.

This Christmas Jesus will relieve some of the burden that so many carry. He’ll alter situations, preventing them from becoming worse. But Jesus will not do all of this visibly as the person paintings and movies depict Him to be.

Jesus’ presence this Christmas will be felt due to thousands of His followers, believers accepting His call to touch a hurting world as His hands, Christians not afraid to be Jesus in humble and ungodly situations around them.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NKJV).

Won’t you be Jesus this Christmas season to those around you who need His help?

William E. Richardson is senior pastor of Afton (Iowa) Assembly of God.