Bethany Bullet - June 26, 2012

Today is Summer Christmas.  Even as the Nativity of our Lord is celebrated at the beginning of winter so the nativity of his cousin and forerunner is celebrated at the beginning of summer.   Christmas is synonymous with the name of Jesus, “God Saves.”  In Christ, whose birth is celebrated at the anniversary of His nativity, God has come to save us.  So too, Summer Christmas is synonymous with the name of John, “God is Gracious.”  Through John, whose birth is celebrated at the anniversary of his nativity, the news is proclaimed that God is a God of Grace.

John made such a proclamation by…

1.       Revealing who Jesus was, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”;

2.       Admitting who he (John) was not, “I am not the Christ. I am the voice calling in the wilderness, prepare His way.”

3.       And finally by…“A man can receive only what is given him, He must become greater and I must become lesser.” 

While our births might never be celebrated by the church at large, they can certainly be lived to impact her mission greatly; as we too declare and share God’s graciousness in Jesus by…

1.       Revealing who Jesus is and what He means to us;

2.       Admitting who we are not: perfect, better than, or more worthy, but just sinners forgiven/restored through Christ; 

3.       And finally by living selflessly as we seek to make decisions about the day to day as well as major life ones.

And in doing so, not merely through wishes, whims, and wants but by the will of Him who formed us in our mother’s wombs to be voices calling – in this case along the So Cal coast, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer