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[2950.48 --> 2952.48] Without him nothing was made that has been made
[2953.48 --> 2954.48] In him was life
[2955.48 --> 2958.48] And that life was the light of all mankind
[2958.48 --> 2963.48] The word is the light of all humanity
[2964.48 --> 2966.48] The true light that gives light to everyone
[2967.48 --> 2968.48] Was coming into the world
[2969.48 --> 2970.48] And then comes this sentence
[2971.48 --> 2972.48] Right?
[2972.48 --> 2974.48] This reality redefining truth
[2975.48 --> 2976.48] The word became flesh
[2977.48 --> 2979.48] And made his dwelling among us
[2981.48 --> 2982.48] The counterpoint
[2983.48 --> 2984.48] Right?
[2984.48 --> 2985.48] The one that we have to attempt to reach God
[2985.48 --> 2986.48] Or to reject God
[2987.48 --> 2989.48] Is God coming to us?
[2990.48 --> 2994.48] So unlike when waiting for Godot
[2995.48 --> 2996.48] When waiting for God
[2997.48 --> 2998.48] He actually shows up
[2999.48 --> 3004.48] But this is the strange miracle of Christmas
[3005.48 --> 3009.48] And this is the part that the story
[3009.48 --> 3011.48] The story and the people of the story
[3011.48 --> 3012.48] And the people of today
[3012.48 --> 3013.48] And the people of today
[3013.48 --> 3015.48] Often unbeknownst to them
[3015.48 --> 3017.48] Still reenact every Christmas
[3018.48 --> 3019.48] And increasingly so
[3020.48 --> 3021.48] In our post-Christian culture
[3021.48 --> 3024.48] We reenact this every day of the year
[3026.48 --> 3029.48] The world didn't recognize Jesus
[3030.48 --> 3031.48] As God come down
[3032.48 --> 3034.48] Not because he was absent
[3034.48 --> 3038.48] But because he was too close
[3039.48 --> 3041.48] Because he was too humble
[3042.48 --> 3043.48] He was too embodied
[3044.48 --> 3045.48] Too weak
[3046.48 --> 3047.48] Too much a baby
[3048.48 --> 3049.48] Too ordinary
[3050.48 --> 3052.48] To fit into our expectations
[3053.48 --> 3054.48] Of God showing up
[3055.48 --> 3056.48] Right?
[3056.48 --> 3058.48] Most people missed the Messiah
[3059.48 --> 3061.48] Because they couldn't see past their own convictions
[3061.48 --> 3063.48] And ideas about what God should do
[3064.48 --> 3065.48] And the same is true today
[3066.48 --> 3067.48] Right?
[3067.48 --> 3068.48] And this isn't just out there
[3069.48 --> 3070.48] It's in here
[3070.48 --> 3071.48] And even more so
[3071.48 --> 3072.48] It's in here
[3073.48 --> 3074.48] Right?
[3074.48 --> 3075.48] My ideas
[3076.48 --> 3077.48] About what God should do
[3078.48 --> 3080.48] Lead me to miss
[3081.48 --> 3082.48] What God is doing
[3083.48 --> 3086.48] I miss him
[3087.48 --> 3088.48] Because God is gentler
[3089.48 --> 3090.48] Than I expect
[3092.48 --> 3093.48] I miss him
[3093.48 --> 3095.48] Because he's often slower
[3096.48 --> 3097.48] Than I want
[3098.48 --> 3099.48] And I miss him
[3100.48 --> 3102.48] Because he is regularly
[3103.48 --> 3104.48] Closer to me
[3105.48 --> 3106.48] Than I am comfortable with
[3109.48 --> 3110.48] Look
[3111.48 --> 3113.48] Maybe you have really strong ideas
[3114.48 --> 3115.48] About what God should do
[3116.48 --> 3117.48] Right?
[3117.48 --> 3119.48] If God is really at work in the world
[3119.48 --> 3121.48] You expect your problems to resolve
[3122.48 --> 3123.48] Your diseases to be healed
[3124.48 --> 3125.48] Your habits to break
[3126.48 --> 3127.48] You expect clarity to
[3128.48 --> 3129.48] For what to do next to come
[3130.48 --> 3132.48] You expect peace to arrive quickly
[3133.48 --> 3134.48] And when that doesn't happen
[3135.48 --> 3136.48] You then assume that God is distant
[3137.48 --> 3138.48] Or that he's somehow disappointed with you
[3139.48 --> 3140.48] Or that he's silent
[3141.48 --> 3143.48] Because he doesn't love you
[3143.48 --> 3144.48] Love you
[3145.48 --> 3146.48] But what if
[3147.48 --> 3148.48] What if you're not missing God
[3149.48 --> 3150.48] Because he's absent
[3151.48 --> 3152.48] But because he is present
[3153.48 --> 3154.48] In a way that you didn't plan for
[3156.48 --> 3158.48] He's present in a way that you can't anticipate
[3158.48 --> 3159.48] When Christ comes near us
[3160.48 --> 3163.48] When Christ comes near us in our mess
[3164.48 --> 3165.48] We often misread his presence
[3166.48 --> 3167.48] Right?
[3167.48 --> 3169.48] We brace ourselves thinking that judgment is coming
[3170.48 --> 3172.48] When in fact mercy has arrived
[3173.48 --> 3174.48] Right?
[3174.48 --> 3175.48] We wait for God to fix us
[3176.48 --> 3178.48] But instead he chooses to sustain us
[3179.48 --> 3180.48] In the midst of the trial
[3181.48 --> 3182.48] We look for him above us
[3183.48 --> 3184.48] Kind of cowering