Christmas Simplified.

As I was listening one day to the Acts of the Holy Spirit, some call it the book of Acts in the Bible, I was struck by how often the Holy Spirit does act and then we try to put what happens in a box. We try to categorize, clarify, and demystify something that is outside of all of that. In the process, we take the joy out of it.

When those who knew Jesus and experienced the Holy Spirit shared that with others they simply told what had happened, what they had heard, what they had seen. Could it be that they trusted the Holy Spirit to make what they were saying real to the listener?

They didn't complicate it. They knew they were sharing difficult teachings and experiences. They had seen and heard Jesus take what God was saying to him and share it with stories and what was going on right then.

They were writing stories and poems and songs in a real sense. They were bringing into the open moments that only God would make real for others. They were painting pictures, making sculptures, doing lesson plans, building buildings of the truths of God as experienced through the love of God the Father, the relationship of forgiveness through Jesus the Son, and being comforted and led by the encourager, the very Spirit of God.

At this time of Christmas when the world is in disarray let us endeavor to just do this. Let the acts of the Holy Spirit keep moving through us and others as the birth of Jesus is proclaimed. Let the peace of Christ bind us together as God is bound together as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let the Joy of the Lord be our strength.

Come Holy Spirit. Fill us as only you can. We desperately need you. We need your touch, your embrace, and your power. In the name of Jesus. Amen.