From the Pulpit: 'Your God here'

In one episode of the TV show “Last Man Standing,” Mike Baxter (played by Tim Allen) attempts to make Christmas easier for his wife by assigning some of her Christmas chores to their children. Unfortunately, her annual job of setting up the nativity scene at their church is assigned to their atheist son-in-law Ryan, who is lukewarm about this task. Ryan takes along Kyle, the loveable-but-gullible employee from “Outdoor Man” to help him. Ryan manages to convince the trusting Kyle that the nativity scene is bad, since it excludes Buddhists, Muslims, and all other religions. What is their solution to this “problem”? They decide to leave the stable empty with a sign that says “Your God here” in place of the baby Jesus in the manger. 

What is meant to be a joke is, of course, absurd. The characters in this fictional show meant for their message to be inclusive of all religions, but no other false god or founder of a false religion did what the one true God, Jesus Christ, did. Only the Son of God from heaven humbled himself, became man, was born in a manger, and eventually humbled himself to the point of death on a cruel Roman cross to pay for the sins of the world. Only Jesus rose and defeated sin and death. You can visit the still occupied graves of the founders of the fake religions of the world, but you can only visit the empty grave of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. 

Isn’t it ironic that the writers of this comedy show got it correct without realizing it? In the TV show, the sign is taken down. It could be hung over our replicas of the baby in the manger as long as it is taken in the correct spirit. That baby lying in the cold is your God. We proclaim with great joy for the entire world to hear this message at Christmas time, “Your God is here! He is Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ Worship and adore him!” When you are hurting or need help, remember that our God is Immanuel, an “ever-present help in time of trouble” (Ps. 46:1). Your God is not in the cradle any longer, or on the cross, or in the sky. In Matt. 28:20 He promises, “I am with you always, to the end of the earth.”  Doesn’t that sound like “Your God – here”?

The TV episode I referred to ends in near-disaster. One daughter writes what she thinks is a funny Christmas letter, and it has to be recalled. The tree decorated by the other daughter falls over. The Mike Baxter character says to his wife, “Next year, you do it all!” Again, without realizing it, the show teaches a valuable spiritual lesson. Leave Christmas to the expert. God is the expert! Christmas isn’t “do-it yourself.” God did it all the first Christmas by providing the Savior of the world, and He continues to do everything we need to save us with His grace. Thank you, Immanuel, “Our God who is here!”