The Christmas season evokes a number of beautiful images, ornately decorated Christmas trees, white winter wonderlands, and jolly St. Nick in his red suit and long white beard. While these are reminders of this wonderful holiday, the image that matters most is an imperfect and unclean stable.
The reality is that the stable which housed God was imperfectly perfect. Why would God choose such an imperfect and seemingly insignificant setting for His grand entrance to humanity? His desired accommodations imply this reality: God does not expect perfection, He perfects the imperfect.
While history has painted a quaint portrait of the stable, the reality is that these accommodations would be less than ideal for a new born. A stable housed animals and the "beautiful manger" is a feeding trough. Given the structure's function, there was probably little attention paid to its construction and maintenance.
In spite of its imperfections, the stable was made imperfectly perfect because of the presence of the Savior. Jesus chooses that which is imperfect to manifest His love. He does exactly that with humanity! Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his love for us in this; for while we were still sinners Christ died for us."
Like the stable, we too are riddled with imperfections and yet Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection has perfected us, making us righteous in His sight. This Christmas season, we invite you to join us on our "Journey to the Stable," as we explore different aspects of the Christmas story. We will learn more about the stable and all of its imperfections, but more importantly we will learn about Jesus who makes the imperfect perfect.
St. Andrews Lutheran Church is located at 575 West 68 Street in Hialeah. English services are held at 9 a.m. and Spanish services at 10:30 a.m. Join us on Christmas morning for our English service at 9 a.m.