by Richard Coble
Matthew 2:1-12
“The different road the Maji found was the realization that God is not just an abstraction, not a set of high ideals or morals that we can’t really follow, not a tyrant who shames you for who you are, not a heavenly king in the clouds who stays removed in the heavens; God is not a promise that never comes true; God is not simply a metaphor for what is good in this world. In the manger, God comes down, and meets us face to face, the light shining in the darkness. The Word that “became flesh and lived among us…full of grace and truth.” In the Christmas story, God chooses relationship. God chooses to be with us, to walk with us in our lives, to support us and love us, to guide us and liberate us.”