Saturday, Day 21, The Third Week of Advent - On Wondering and Wandering

Colossians 1:9-20 (NIV)
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 
I walk out the door of my house in our small village every morning to let our dog use God’s facilities. It’s not fun, but gratifying to know he waits for me every morning – a 7+ year old dog who doesn’t have accidents is something to be thankful for! 

These mornings are especially “wonder-ful”. It’s cold…in fact, very cold outside, but bundled up, I still can’t help but look up into the sky to see the stars that light it up. In the cold wintry air they seem even more glorious. There is an old hymn written in the 20th century by John Jacob Niles, a musician who collected folk music from African-American and Appalachian sources – in other words music from rural life. 

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.

For poor on'ry people like you and like I...

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall,

With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.

But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall,

And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,

A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,

Or all of God's angels in heav'n for to sing,

He surely could have it, 'cause he was the King.

I don't always understand what makes for "poor on'ry people...but he got it right, it was universal, "like you and like I".  We don't tend to "look up" and behold the wonder like we ought to.  It’s wonder-filled to contemplate the creator who created the universe – the stars and galaxies down to the sub-atomic particles.  Our God created humankind and that “in his image” as well! Then the day comes when the creator enters the creation. Theologians call it “incarnation”. I think its “wonder-filled”. Christ the second person of the Trinity, the maker of the universes, chose to take that step from eternity…willingly, lovingly, leaving all the power to come and live among a “poor, ornery people, like you and like I.”
The Son of God, the Son of Man…creator, created…divine, human…the image, the imaged…
I stand out under the stars and look up at the universe and wonder…and say “Wow”!

Think about this: Jesus Christ came and You and I became something because of it: 

“…to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12 (NIV)

This morning, our prayer comes from Psalms 36:5-9 (NRSV) 
5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, 
your faithfulness to the clouds. 
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, 
your judgments are like the great deep; 
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD. 
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! 
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 
8 They feast on the abundance of your house, 
and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.