We Are Not Alone

The Christmas season is upon us. It starts here in Texas immediately after Thanksgiving Day, but that's the same all over the U.S. now. The merchants push hard to sell whatever and we'll all be wondering how we're going to get everything done before Christmas Day. Like so many others, Sylvia and I have yet to complete our Christmas shopping and the annual Christmas letter to friends and relatives. Not so for everyone. I received one letter by email yesterday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

All this reminds me of that terribly busy first Christmas when Caesar Augustus had ordered a census throughout the Roman Empire. Interesting guy, that Augustus. He was born with the given name Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 B.C. He took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian) in 44 B.C. after the murder of his great uncle, Julius Caesar. In his will Caesar had adopted Octavian and made him his heir. The rest, as they say, is history.

By the time Jesus was born this first Roman Emperor had been in power for over 20 years and the great Pax Romana was in place. It was a time of peace. You could travel most of the empire in relative safety. So it was possible for the unknown peasants, Mary and Joseph, to travel a hundred miles south to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

If you're concerned about this census business and the extra-Biblical allusions to it, you might refer to any number of explanations. One that I found useful is by Dr. Richard Bucher. The main point he makes is that according to the best available records, it really did happen as Luke wrote in his Gospel.

In our country this is also a time of change. President Bush is stepping down to be replaced by President Obama, a most historical time. These days you can be certain that tons of records will be available by for future generations, taking apart a multitude of thoughts and comments about the presidency of the first black man in U.S. history.

It is also a time of severe financial testing, both here and throughout the world. That's another reason why the Christmas season is being pushed by the retail merchants. However, no one expects to make much money this year.

But in all of this I am comforted to know that the words of Psalm 31 remain true:

But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my God."

My times are in your hands;
deliver me from my enemies
and from those who pursue me.

Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.

The Christmas story reminds us so powerfully that our Lord did not leave us alone to be tossed this way and that by the changes of history, the power plays of politicians, the hatred between religious groups, the prejudices between races and troubles with finances. Greed, hatred, lust for power and all the other sins of mankind remain with us, but we are not alone. He is with us. Our Lord Jesus came to take up our infirmities and carry our sorrows. Before us stands a wonderfully strange future.

So in the midst of this busy, busy season of change, kneel again with the shepherds at the manger where lies the Prince of Peace and let the song of the angels re-echo in your heart: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." We are not alone. He is with us.