6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
A Sunday Christmas is special, for the Santa side has to share the stage with Jesus this morning, clearing the deck for the gift orgy (my niece got a iPad and my nephew a Kinnect, but we got roughly as spoiled rotten when we were their age-we just didn't have the electronica then) full-table dinner and NBA opening day in the PM. I'm getting this in between gifts and dinner, as my nephew sprays live-action Angry Birds in the family room; I drove my mom crazy mimicing the cardinal's ba-hik-a-ba and the canary's Glooor-eee!!!
Meanwhile, while we graze on gifted goodies and ham, we have a King of King who is an Is, not a Was. Joy to the World reminds us that "the Lord is come." Not has come, is come.
We sometimes awkwardly try to make that kingdom come to life, but as we mock (in the literary sense) God's Kingdom, we can wind up mocking it (in the general sense) by getting worldly stuff in the way. Such mocking can get particuarly thick in a GOP primary, but left-of-center Christians can get just as cloying when they try to make Jesus an Occupier or other rhetorical excesses.
4PM on Christmas Day is a good time for me, when we can put Santa aside, count our blessings and get back to a greater focus on the real and living God.
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