Dave Hop Great moment from Talladega Nights about preferring Jesus as a baby rather than letting him grow up! Not sure if this is really a Christmassy moment but it seems a good time to ponder it…
YouTube video
It’s a daft scene but it highlights something, we often make Jesus in our own image, or confine him to the safe boxes. Whether I keep him for Sunday, or Christmas, or the Wednesday night group meeting, or the shiny, happy moments when I feel particularly religious or spiritual. The great message of Christmas is that God came close, stepped into the darkness and the grime, and – shock horror! – grew up! I love Christmas and celebrating the Bethlehem happening, but that only had profound and long-lasting meaning because the baby became a man. And not some superhero rock star, but a person who lived through childhood, teenage years, adulthood. A man who worked, had family, slept, ate, sweated, washed, bantered and argued, lived through financial crises, oppression and injustice, laughed, danced, cried, knew loneliness, misunderstanding and despair, brought hope, peace, discomfort and challenge. A God who stepped into our muddy shoes and understands the ways of the world. A streetwise saviour.
A heavenly friend who is totally tuned into the earth, who knows why I struggle with my faith, don’t have enough compassion or courage, sometimes love myself too much, sometimes hate myself, often neglect others, and don’t appreciate the good things in my life. And a God with dirt under his finger nails who can help me, help us, with all of that. Not because he feels he should, or somehow tolerates me, but because he wants to, he likes me, he likes us, so much that he came to Bethlehem, surrendered to Roman execution, and shocked everyone with resurrection and laughter on Easter Sunday morning. A God who is too big for Christmas, and too big for the boxes I put him in. Boom! – there he goes again, breaking out of another one…
If you've appreciated this, why not...
Donate to support Dave's work Subscribe on YouTube Follow on X Like on Facebook Contact Dave Subscribe