The One by Constance McNeill, Associate Pastor, Administration

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his.

Genesis 49:10

Don’t we usually prefer warm and fuzzy verses, especially at Christmas? After all, it’s love and baby coos and animals lowing. It’s so homey and “feel good.” Well, this isn’t one of those verses for our Advent season. At first reading, you may wonder what it has to do with Christmas at all. Let’s read it again and read it this way: “The Kingship will not leave the line of Judah until the final King will be the Messiah himself.” Ah, now we see Jesus. The gift of grace himself!

Of the many things about which we might not agree, we probably all agree on this: this world is broken and lost. We are more likely to hear words of hate than healing. We see acts of violence more often than acts of forgiveness. When the world begins in God’s imagination in the beginning of Genesis, it was beautiful and idyllic, but very soon after humans inhabit it, things go awry. Instead of being fully human as we were created in God’s image to be, we become inhumane rather quickly really, and that behavior continues today. What God has imagined in the beginning, becomes an image as in a cloudy mirror.

Take heart, God’s not done. The One who will ultimately reign as a King, the One who will have the final say—and it will all be said and done—will have the last word. Those words bring healing and comfort, hope and encouragement, clarity and direction. That One is who we cuddle as our Christmas baby. That One fulfills the prophecy of Messiah. The One whose path is traced from Judah to today. The One who will one day complete what God has originally imagined in and for you and me. The One who is our gift of grace. The final word of Love himself.

CONSTANCE MCNEILL

ASSOCIATE PASTOR, ADMINISTRATION