World and the Spirit

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” Luke 2:6-7

 

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its head. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who ‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” Revelations 12:1-6

 

There is something about morning prayer sermons that I especially enjoy. It could be the brevity. It definitely could be the brevity. It seems pastors may be conflicted in preaching in this time of the year. One can certainly preach on about the nativity, as it is a timeless story for us to engrave in our hearts. Another can feel pressured to invoke new life in an old story.

 

Why not both? As one pastor connected the nativity scene to that in Revelations, I saw how blind I was to the spiritual realm. This may be nothing new to anyone else, but I found it fascinating. There was Jesus lying quietly in a manger, while strangers came to celebrate. On the other side, a great battle, the biggest suspense in all of history was occurring.

 

The fate of the souls of humanity was being decided, while mankind slept peacefully in their homes.