A Sign for Christmas

I recall some years ago needing to navigate Coronation Drive in Brisbane, somewhere I had not been before. They did it up not long before as it couldn’t cope with the traffic flow.  They added some extra lanes and put in masses of overhead direction lights.  Some were green arrows, and some were red crosses.  The idea was that at certain times of day they could allow more traffic one way and less the other; reversing them when the traffic was going the opposite direction.  The problem was, amongst all those lights there were normal traffic lights.  I guess it was probably okay when you got used to it, but, for a first timer it was so confusing.

I was lucky.  Jennie wasn’t in the car.  Neither were the kids.  And there were no police!  I reckon life is like that sometimes.  It is so busy and there are so many directions to go, and there are so many signs.  Life can get really confusing.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have really clear signs to guide us along our way?

In the Old Testament there was a guy called King Ahaz.  He must have been special, because God spoke to him: “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”

Isaiah was describing the ancient equivalent of the modern day Australian lost amid a multitude of signs. Lost and confused… and suffering consequences.  I don’t get it.  Even with Karen from Google Maps, often a really good, clear sign is very useful.  Perhaps Isaiah didn’t get it either?  He added, “Okay then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

In the Christmas story the angel said to the shepherds, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Shepherds were ordinary people.  It was for people like the shepherds that Jesus came into the world.  Ordinary people with ordinary struggles.  He came for the weak, and for the poor.  He came for the rejected, and for the helpless.  He came for people that were lost, with too many signs and too much confusion. People in a mess with no apparent way out.

For to us a child is born,

To us a son is given,

And all authority will be on his shoulders,

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.