Welcome to our World

So recently as in the past 4-5 months, I feel like I re-discovered Chris Rice, the Christian musician. Back in college, I was pretty picky with my Christian music and I used to loathe the "what if cartoons got saved" song. I think that association with Chris Rice ruined me to even wanting to listen to anything that could possibly come from the same artist.

In the past several months, I have been left in tears by two singing performances that just tugged at my heart. One occurred at Brian's Aunt's church (Truro) when a gentlemen with a voice identical to Chris Rice's sang "Hallelujahs". The other was a couple Sundays ago at my own church. A guy who normally is more of an instrumentalist stepped up to the mic to do a solo and I don't think I had ever heard his voice. He sang Rice's "Welcome to Our World." The lyrics to this song just made me bawl. There is something about music that reaches deep deep down and hits me at the core level. I'm not a musician or even musically talented by any means. But I appreciate the profundity of these lyrics coupled with the emotional and spiritual experience of the singers delivery; God met me where I was as I listened to that song.

"Welcome to Our World"

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Our pastor went on to explain how we so often get it wrong. We think that Christ was more human on the day he entered this world as a fragile baby or that He was more God on the day He resurrected. Or maybe we even diminish the significance of how Christ entered this world as a baby in a manger because we think, "oh! Well, He was God so He didn't really have a baby's mentality and probably didn't even mind the cold." In the words of my pastor, "Jesus wasn't simply physically man and mentally God; He didn't have days where He was superhuman and other days where he felt hunger."

The truth we believe is that Christ has the full humanity of man and yet is also fully God. My mind has trouble grasping this. But I am not alone. Historically there were many before us that had trouble reconciling that Christ really is MAN and really is GOD. One person with 2 natures. Not 50% man, 50% God. But fully both. The implications of this are huge! Only man can atone for man's sin. Only God can endure the wrath of God. Jesus is both God & man and is victorious in both. Atoning for man's sin by shedding His own blood rather than the blood of anyone or anything else while enduring man's punishment from a just God who must punish sin. This is a very different Christmas message than the one our culture gives us.

The Christmas songs we sing about that contain bells jingling, warm cups of cocoa by the fire, and all things cozy are far removed from the actual manger scene. It was not cozy, comfortable, or decorated. Jesus was born without medical help; a home-birth amidst animals; it was cold; He had no nursery set up for Him; His parents were young and new at parenting; they didn't know how to deliver a baby. They were as nervous as any parent would be knowing the risks that go into giving birth. They also knew that this little baby was sent by their Heavenly Father; He would atone for the sins of man and others would scoff at such an idea.