I am ready for some winter chill. I want to see the hoar frost of a cold morning and feel a little winter bite on my cheeks as I get out of my car. I want to come inside and need to warm up instead of turning on the air conditioning. So somewhere in the recesses of my memory, I remembered a Christmas from thirteen years ago. I thought I'd go back and re-run a piece written then, just in hopes that Saint Nic's sleigh would be needed this Christmas and not some dune buggy tracking its way across hot and barren sand. So join me as we look over my shoulder at a Christmas thirteen years past, and let's remember what the weather was like when Jesus came!
When I stepped out of the door this past Sunday morning, I was greeted with two delightful tastes of joy. First, the brisk north breeze brought with it an invigorating chill. Second, the ground was saturated from an overnight rain. God brought both to us with a cold front that blew in during the night. We have suffered through a long, hot, dry fall in Texas. Drought has had its strangle hold on us. Temperatures have remained much warmer than normal. But now, finally, God has sent us a breath of fresh air to break the drought and refresh our spirits! This reminds me of the weather when Jesus came.
As Luke tells us the story, he wants us to feel God's refreshing Spirit blowing through parched hearts and bringing God's fresh gifts of grace and heaven's rain. The Holy Spirit of God, one of the key promises of the New Covenant, burst on the scene like a breath of fresh air. His presence was everywhere.
- The Spirit came with power and conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary.
- The Spirit was present with John the Baptist from his mother womb, so John leaped for joy inside her when the newly pregnant Mary, carrying the Messiah, came to see her.
- The Spirit inspired Elizabeth to affirm Mary's faith that God had placed the Messiah in her womb.
- The Spirit inspired Elizabeth to praise God for his great work of salvation to be done by the one in the womb of Mary.
- The Spirit broke God's imposed silence of Zechariah and inspired the old priest's great proclamation of praise and joy.
- The Spirit led, convinced, and inspired Simeon to meet and praise God's Messiah, baby Jesus, in the Temple.
The weather changed when Jesus came!
Luke helps us feel the cool breezes of God's refreshing Spirit as God's fresh Wind wafts its way through the hearts of God's people. The Old Testament prophets had spoken of this special time. God's holy Wind, his powerful Breath, his comforting Spirit would blow through God's holy people and begin a new day, a new age, and bring a New Covenant. Luke wants us to know God's cold front has come to God's parched land and his heavenly Breeze has begun to blow fresh life into weary souls!
This heavenly Breeze would be for all who would become children of God (Acts 2:38-39; Acts 5:32; Romans 8:1-16).
This Holy Breath from God would be poured out by Jesus upon all who became Christians (Acts 2:33; Titus 3:3-7), born of water and Spirit (Acts 2:38; John 3:3-7).
The presence of this holy Wind insured that everything would be different and refreshingly new (Acts 3:18-19; Acts 5:22).
Most importantly, this change in the weather, this invigorating chill from God's early morning Zephyr, assures us that we could be changed as well (Acts 2:38-39; Acts 9:17-22; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
So as we gather around and tell stories of baby Jesus, wise men from the East, Shepherds in their fields, mean old Herod in his palace, and a long journey for a couple expecting their first baby, let's not forget the weather! You see, God sent one glorious cold front, pushed through by his mighty, refreshing, and holy Wind. This Breeze from heaven's grace started the events that gave Mary a baby and changed everything for you and me! So while Bing Crosby may have been dreaming of a white Christmas, God preferred to send his refreshing, mighty, holy Wind to change the weather at Christmas, for all of us.
O Holy Spirit, Breath of heaven, come and fill our weary hearts with grace. Stir our songs with a fresh joy of angelic praise. Comfort our broken and fearful spirits with your gentle breezes of grace and mercy. Fill us with your holy power as you fan into flame the dying embers of our once passionate hope. Bring God's weather to us this Christmas just as you changed the spiritual climate when Jesus first came. In the name of Jesus and through your gracious intercession for us, O Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
