This, this is Christ the King

My beloved sisters and brothers of the OT,

Great tidings of comfort and joy on this morning of Christmas. I wept tears of joy less than an hour ago as we sang boldly and with true affirmation: "This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing; haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary!"

The birth of Christ was a little thing: there were no wise men there. There were no angels. Nativities may conflate their presence, but all who were there was Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and shepherds. For Luke, shepherds were little people -- they were poor, the destitute, those whom society had cast aside. And this is exactly those for whom Christ favors most: the poor. Poor does not always mean economically poor; more often in the NT, it is the poor of spirit, the broken, the hopeless, the hurt. Christ came to save those of us who seek refuge on the OT.

May the message of Christmas -- that God entered the world as the infant Jesus to love you, you who are weary and broken and beaten by the troubles of this world -- give you hope and comfort. Christ very truly is the light of all peoples. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This same Christ tells us, you and me, that we are the light of the world. At one time we were darkness, but now we are light in the Lord.

May each and every one of you here on the OT meet the Christ child and grow in love, joy, peace, and hope. Merry Christmas to each of you.

Love,
TulaneLSU