Is. 9:2-4,6-7; Tit. 2:11-4; LK.2:1-16
Tonight, we get the
impression that we are surrounded by a bright and powerful light, a light of
shining love, the light of Jesus. Tonight, we are surrounded by the Divine
light of love that unites us all closer and closer. Our personal
Today we are celebrating the birth of
Prince of Peace who comes to visit us daily in various forms – He comes when
there is natural calamities. He comes when there is strife among the nations.
He comes when the world is crushed down under ailments. Always he stands above
them as the Prince of Peace. The only message that the Angels had to deliver to
mankind was, “Glory to God in the Highest and peace to men of good will.”
Papa Panov is an elderly
cobbler living alone in a tiny village of Russia. His wife is dead, and his
sons and daughters are all grown up, living far away from his home. It’s
Christmas time and since his wife is dead, he sits alone and sad in his little
shop. He decides to read the Bible and the story of the birth of Jesus.
He reads the Christmas
story but reading it continuously, he feels tired. The further he reads, the
sleeping he becomes. Finally, he falls asleep and has a dream. In his dream, he
notices a man in his room; he realises that it is Jesus. The Lord tells him
that he can come and visit him the next day. However, Jesus would not reveal
his identity to him. The next day is Christmas. Papa Panov wakes up early and
is excited about meeting the Lord in person.
He notices an old sweeper
cleaning the street diligently, despite the cold weather. Touched by his hard
work, Papa Panov calls out to him and offers him a hot cup of coffee with a
plateful of cookies. Later on, he notices a young mother with her baby in a sad
mood, looking dejected with life in general. He calls them and shares his lunch
with them. While they wait, he crafts a beautiful pair of tiny shoes for the
baby.
The day passes quickly, but
there is no sight of the holy visitor whom he was so eager to meet. Beggars
came and went too, and Papa Panov fed them without having second thoughts. As
the night approaches, he returns home, disappointed that Jesus did not come to
meet him. Just as he was about to say that it was only a dream, he heard
Jesus’s voice. “I did come to meet you,” said Jesus. Jesus had visited him in
the guise of every person whom Papa Panov helped, right from the sweeper to the
young mother to the beggars! Papa Panov is very happy that Jesus came to visit
him after all.
The celebration of the
birth of Jesus and the message of the angels remind us that the Kingdom of
Jesus belongs to the holy people. It belongs to those who are upright and
godly.
I would like to share
with you a beautiful message I heard from someone. He took four glasses of
water and placed them on the table. In the first glass he put a stone. There
was no change in it. And there was no reaction. The stone had no interaction
with water. It did not contribute anything to the water nor did it receive
anything from the water. Some of us are like the stone. We just co-exist in the
society without any interaction.
In the second glass of
water he soaked some cotton. Immediately the cotton absorbed the whole water in
the glass. The cotton symbolizes some of our relation ships. They do not
contribute anything to us but they absorb everything that we have. They make us
helpless.
In the third one he
added a drop of ink, and it changed the colour of the water. When we come into
contact with some people they change us. Likewise some of our relationships
destroy our character. It destroys our innocence and individuality.
In the fourth he added a
tea spoon of sugar. The sugar loses itself into the water. It does not take
anything from the water instead it makes the water sweet. Our relationships should be like this. Jesus
was born into this world to transform it. He came down to give his peace. He
came down to teach us the lessons of forgiveness. He came down to raise us to a
sublime position.
William
Lynn Weaver shared an amazing story from his childhood in which his father
treated a young stranger with remarkable kindness. After finding one of
the family's bikes stolen, the pair tracked down the culprit, only to find the
ten-year-old boy tearfully hiding behind his grandfather explaining that he
"just wanted something for Christmas."
Returning
home with the bike, William's father began gathering coal and asked if the
family had an extra set of wheels. Without a word, he returned to the thief's
house, bike and coal in hand, and handed them over to the child—along with an
extra $20. "Merry Christmas," was all he said.
The message of
Christmas for us is the same. Transform the world around us with your little
acts of kindness.
Satish