One Little Word. . .

For a very long time I guess I have missed the obvious.  When Luther penned his mighty hymn, he wrote One little Word doth fell him...  That was all it took.  The devil and all his evil horde were taken down by one little Word.  As we celebrate Christmass, the meaning is obvious.  The day when we rejoice in the Word made flesh, the Baby laid in the manger, it is this Word that fells the devil and brings to naught all his might.  One little Word.  Nothing could be smaller than the little Word taking flesh in the womb of the Virgin by the power of the Spirit.  Nothing could be less threatening than a pregnant mother and the child within her waiting to be born only to be delivered in weakness.  Nothing could be more easily dismissed than a Child meant to be seen but not heard.  Except this Word made flesh.  He would shake the foundations of the world through Him made and deliver from its bondage to evil and death the men who embraced their captivity willingly by a simple choice.  Indeed, one little Word.

We mistake the manger and the creche for something sentimental as if its power lie in the minds and hearts of those who appreciate its emotional rush and teary eyed poignant moment.  It is not weakness that was born but the mighty Word of God.  Hidden in flesh but not empty of His power, the Word goes forth.  He is not obvious as power or might but revealed.  He is strong enough to forgive and has the courage to step up to pay the cost for that forgiveness.  He is like us in every way except sin and we become like Him, clothed in His very righteousness and given new birth in the womb of the font.  He comes to us that He may bring us to the Father and present us as His cherished possession, worth nothing less than His ultimate sacrifice.  He enters into our death so that we might be raised from death to the life death cannot touch.  He is the Word made flesh but only little when you forget who He is.  Herod and the devil knew the score.  The Child was more than a sweet baby.  They conspired to send to the death all those male children who first opened the womb in Bethlehem at the time He was born.  They knew.  One little Word could not be dismissed.  He must be dealt with.

How sad it is that we dismiss Him.  We put Him away like the decorations that herald His birth.  We leave Him at the Church as if He could only live there and not with us or in us.  We dismiss Him as worth our tears but not substantial enough to change our values or transform our way of living.  We make Him small not in size but in power when we presume that He can do nothing for us unless we call upon Him or invite Him into our hearts or make a conscious decision to yield our wills to His.  The devil knows that the Baby must be dealt with and tries to kill Him before He becomes the Man born of woman to fulfill the promise.  Herod knows that this threat to his earthly power is great enough to merit an insane murder of children.  But we know a Jesus who content to live on the sidelines of our lives, who cannot fulfill the promise of His words and turn water into a saving bath or bread and wine into His flesh and blood, and who can be bought off with an occasional personal appearance, a few bucks tossed into a plate, and promise to show up again next year.  How odd it is!

One little Word.  Big things come in small packages.  We say it all the time but especially as gifts pile up under a tree.  The biggest of all came among us in the weakness of our flesh and blood, in the Baby born of the Virgin, and of the One who takes up arms not with weapons of might but His body crucified and broken.  Luther got it.  One little Word.  The Church got it.  The Gospel of Christmass Day telling of the Word made flesh.  Do we get it?  If we do, then we cannot remain apart from its power to save and its glory to rescue us from our self-imposed prison of sin and death.  The Word compels us not with threat or fear but with love -- love strong enough to forgive, to die, and to give His life away to those who deserve it least and who have done nothing to merit its goodness.  One little Word, indeed.  It was always that way.  The promise given voice over and over again down through the ages until Eve's hope for herself was born for all of us of the new Eve.  One little Word.  As St. Jerome put it, The Word was made flesh so that we might pass from flesh into the Word...  A blessed Christmass to you all!