“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self controlled, upright and Godly.  He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.”

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. - A woman stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife following an argument that began when she accused him of opening a Christmas present early, authorities said Friday. Misty Johnson, 34, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery, a felony, and misdemeanor domestic battery. Her husband, Shawn Fay Johnson, 34, was treated at a hospital for a wound to the chest, police said.  Authorities said Shawn Johnson called 911 just before 1 a.m. Wednesday to report that his wife had stabbed him. He told police that his wife started arguing with him over his opening a Christmas present, according to court records.  As the argument escalated, Misty Johnson accused her husband of having an affair, authorities said. Police found a marriage license in the couple’s apartment stating they were married in late September.  Police Detective David Thompson said he didn’t know what the present was, or if it was intended for the husband.

“Do not be afraid; for see–I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
            BAL HARBOUR, Fla. - A baby Jesus statue there is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.  “I don’t anticipate this will ever happen again,” said Dina Cellini, who oversees the display, “but we may need to rely on technology to save our savior.”  The Mary and Joseph statues will also be fitted with GPS devices, she said.  The devices are being bought using residents’ contributions and Cellini’s own money.  Cellini has also installed a Plexiglas screen in front of the display.

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, but the baby Jesus was gone someone had taken him.  Oh Lord we come here tonight in search of you.  Our world so filled with chaos that wives are stabbing their husbands for peeking at presents… honestly Jennie I didn’t peak this year, we so desperately need the peace you bring.  The empty seats of loved ones no longer with us are too painful to look at and so with heavy hearts we look to you in search of joy.  Who are we kidding God every year we try, you know we try, but yet again odds are dysfunction will likely rear its ugly head and our family Christmas will not be up to Hallmark expectations and so depressed we come in search of love.  We acknowledge that too often the hopes we have for the celebration of your birth are more tied up in presents than they are in you.  We know that putting our hopes in stuff instead of you we will likely be disappointed some where along the way, but try as we might consumerism usually gets the best of us.  So spent, weary from shopping, tired of wrapping, filled with dread over the coming VISA bill we have gathered hear tonight to look for you in the manger so that our hope may be renewed and grounded in you. 

That is why we who have come in search of you this night looking for you in the manger are so very distressed to learn that you are not there.  The manger is empty, you are gone, the infant has vanished.  We want you back in the manger, and lest you stray from there yet again we are going to put a GPS device on you so we can find you when we need the infant you, the you that doesn’t speak and doesn’t place difficult demands on our lives.  But no matter how hard we try Lord we know you just won’t stay in the manger.  King Herod knew you wouldn’t stay in the manger, he wouldn’t have felt threatened if he had thought you would forever remain a tiny baby.  But he knew you would grow up and was afraid some day you would overthrow him and so he had all those babies killed hoping to extinguish your light before it conquered his darkness.  Your mother Mary knew you wouldn’t forever stay a baby; as she remembered and pondered all of those things in her heart, what the angel Gabriel told her, the star over Bethlehem announcing your birth, a host of uninvited and unlikely visitors coming to welcome your arrival, the strange gifts the Magi brought…pondering all of these things she must have known you would grow up.  Oh I am sure there were times when she observed things through out your life, especially the events leading up to your death when she wished you had remained a baby lying in a manger, but she knew your infancy wouldn’t last forever. 

They knew it, and we know it, yet we have looked for you in that manger tonight, secretly we have hoped this year would be different from all the rest and to our surprise you would be there, but alas you are not.  Deep down we know that should we find you this night, or tomorrow morning, or the next day, or the next, it won’t likely be in the manger.  You won’t stay a helpless, infant, newborn for us, no matter how hard we try.  Though part of us wishes you would, mostly we rejoice that you do not.  We are pleased God that you have come to dwell with us but we are profoundly grateful that you did not remain a baby when you came to earth because a baby can not actively search us out, cannot graciously forgive us for all the ways we have messed up our relationship with you, a baby can’t call us and claim us to be his own the way that you do Lord.  So we give you thanks that you came to us a child but didn’t stay that way.  We are comforted in knowing that even though you are no longer in the manger, even though we can’t see you, or touch you our expectations this night for hope, peace, joy, and love can still be met in you our grown up risen Lord.  Our need for these things is no less now than it ever was, the world in which we live is crazy, we know it falls well short of your expectations for it, we know that we fall well short of your expectations for us, and we know that you can do something about it.  We know that you have done something about it in your birth, life, death, and resurrection.  We know that you will do something about it even as we await your return, not as an infant but as our coming Lord. 

We are sorry Jesus for trying to stuff you back into Christmas, back into the manger.  We hope to do better next time in allowing you to come and be the Savior of the world.  In fact we pledge to not try and put you anywhere but instead seek you where you are, acknowledging that you are still with us, praying to know your presence more fully, going where you lead us.  We dedicate ourselves anew to putting more emphasis on being your followers rather than being your admirers.   Oh Lord you are not in the manger and we are no longer distressed, we are ok with it now, our hearts swell with love, we leap for joy, we have peace, and we know hope as we are reminded once again that in your infinite wisdom oh God you have chosen to be with us, to live in us, to work through us, and to love us all.  We take great comfort in knowing the truth that Jesus entered the world a smiling, helpless baby rather than a mighty warrior, showing us that we don’t have to fight for God’s love.  We don’t have to earn it, we don’t have to hoard it for ourselves.  We have only to acknowledge it, to give thanks for it, and embrace it even as it embraces us.  But you could not remain a baby so that you could rescue us.

Thank you Jesus we were worried there for a moment because the headlines in our news don’t always match your good news and then we discover you are missing from the manger and we were scared.  We know that that the statue of Santa still hangs on the cross in Bremerton, Washington and we still don’t quite know what to make of that.  Mr. Johnson is still recovering from a chest wound in Wyoming we don’t quite know what to make of that either but we hope the best for him and for Mrs. Johnson.  The statue of you is likely still missing in Florida, and we are saddened that it has come to implanting your likeness with a tracking device and encasing you in Plexiglas.  Our world is still crazy and will continue to be, our family gatherings will still fall short of Hallmark’s expectations, the pain of loss will still be very real to us, the expectations for tomorrow are still not likely to be met, and we are still spent, weary, and exhausted.  But it is ok.  It is still well short of your plan for creation but it is ok because you are not in the manger, you are with us.  So thank you Jesus for being with us, tonight, tomorrow, and the next day and the next.  We are glad you are not in the manger because we know you are closer to us than that.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.