I have a little parable to read
you. Who can tell me what a parable
is? A parable is a story with a meaning,
a story that teaches us something. Here
goes:
Once upon a time in a faraway
land, there was a terrible drought. The
rains and snows had stopped coming and day after day it was hot and sunny. With no rain, soon all the green plants
stopped growing, withered up, and turned brown.
The rivers turned into tiny streams and then began to dry up. The crops in the fields stopped growing and
died. Their land was turning into a
desert. The people were running out of
water and soon would run out of food, and they were very sad and very scared.
“God told us that He would never
abandon us!” they cried. So they prayed
and they prayed and they prayed some more, and God heard them. He looked down on them with love and
compassion and God ordered the clouds to gather and bring rain. The people were just about to give up when
one of them looked to the west and saw the gathering clouds and said “Behold,
there is rain coming! Rain to save us
and our children!” And the people danced
and celebrated – for they knew that God had heard their prayers and was sending
rain to freshen their land and bring them new life!
And the rains did come. Everywhere the rain fell, the land turned
green again. But the places where the
rain did not fall – those place stayed brown and dry. Wherever the rain fell, seeds sprouted and
the crops in the field began to grow again.
The streams and rivers swelled with fresh, cool water to drink. Soon the farmers were able to harvest many
good things to eat.
And year after year God sent the
rains to freshen their land. Oh there
were still places in that land that stayed brown and dry, where the rains did
not fall. But every year the people
would celebrate the day that God sent the rain to save them. And thank God for His gift of the rain. The End
* * * * * * * * * * *
So what does
the parable mean?
Two thousand years ago there was
a terrible drought in people’s hearts.
People did not know how to treat each other well. People did not treat each other with
kindness, with justice, with love. And
there was no peace in people’s hearts.
God had sent his law to Moses,
but still the people did not follow it.
The people turned away from God.
There was a desert in people’s hearts, where love had dried up and
stopped growing.
So I can imagine the following
conversation between God the Father and His only Son, Jesus.
God said to
Jesus,
“My Son, my people turn away
from me. They do not follow my law, and
they refuse to treat each other with kindness, with justice and with love. Most of all, My Son, they do not know how
much I love them, how much you love them.
“So I am sending you to show
them. Show them how to treat each other
with kindness, with justice, and with love.
I am sending you to bring peace to their hearts. And forgiveness of their sins. Most of all, my Son, I am sending you to tell
them, and to SHOW them, how much you and I love them.
“So, my Son, I am sending you to
visit my people, to live among them, to become one of them, to SAVE them. You will be born of the virgin named
Mary. You will be born a poor, helpless
baby, in a stable. You will show my
people how to live, and how to love, and when you die you will be raised again
so that my people can live with me forever in heaven.”
And so God DID send His only
Son, Jesus. And everywhere that Jesus
went, He spread love and justice and peace.
But in three short years, Jesus could not visit every place and meet
with every person, and not everyone accepted Jesus and there were still many
places where people did not learn to treat each other with kindness, justice
and love. Places where there was still
no peace in peoples’ hearts.
But every year, all the followers
of Jesus still celebrate that day that God sent Jesus. Every year His followers celebrate the gift
that God gave us in Jesus - that God so loved the world that He sent His only
Son to save us.
* * * * * * *
And so that is why we celebrate
Christmas – because God loves you, and loves me, so much that He sent His Son
to save us. But like the story tells,
not everyone knows Jesus. Not everyplace
has the love and peace that only Jesus can bring.
And that is why today is more
than something we remember from 2000 years ago.
Today we invite Jesus to come and live in our hearts, and not only on
Christmas, but every day. So that you
and I may carry on the work He began 2000 years ago. If Jesus lives in our hearts, we will live
and love like He did. And by our words
and by our actions we will spread Jesus’ words and love to others, to everyone
we meet. And like the first story, to
everyone you and I meet and everywhere you and I go, it will be like bringing
the life-giving rains that will turn our barren and lifeless world green again.
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