The Disappearance of Baby Jesus

I have spoken and written previously of my problems with “baby Jesus.” Oh, I’m not talking about the flesh and blood baby Jesus but the plastic baby Jesus that I put out on my front lawn as a part of my Christmas display. I have found that taking caring of “baby Jesus” is a lot of work. This mainly involves dealing with problems of wind and snow. Quite frequently I have had to dig baby Jesus out of the snow. On other occasions he gets blown out of the manger, and I have to retrieve him and put him back in. Fortunately, the extension cord to which he is attached has kept him from being blown too far. As I have pointed out, my plastic Jesus is not so different from real babies. They need a lot of work too. As a matter of fact, they are completely helpless. In their weakness and need, they demand our love. It is a direct shot to our hearts that God has chosen to approach us this way.

At the end of last Christmas season, I was confronted with a new problem. Baby Jesus had disappeared. One morning I went out and found Mary and Joseph lying on their sides, and baby Jesus was gone! He was nowhere to be found! Upon further investigation, I found deer tracks. I surmised that a deer had come to feed at my bird feeder and got tangled up in baby Jesus’ extension cord and dragged baby Jesus off into the woods.

As this Christmas season approached, I knew that baby Jesus needed to be replaced. I went off in search of baby Jesus and could find him no where. I went to Walmart, K-Mart, and all the other usual places. I could find plenty of front yard Santas, reindeer, stars, Snoopys, snowmen, etc., but no baby Jesus! I finally found baby Jesus at Home Depot! Whew! I ended up getting him and the rest of his family and some wise men (the blow up variety).

Has this not become a parable of our Christmas celebration? With all the commotion and hubbub of our celebration, has baby Jesus disappeared? If so, maybe we, like the wise men of old, should seek him out. Of course, the real point of Christmas is not that we spend a lot of time searching for God. If truth be told, much of the time we are evading Him. The point of Christmas is that God has come in search of us!

2011 C. David Hess