“Captured By A Baby’s Love”
Text: Luke 2:1-20
12-24-2024
In the name of the precious Babe of Bethlehem, dear friends in Christ. Over the years I’ve witnessed an amazing phenomenon. I’ve watched how little newborn babies can melt the hearts of even the biggest and toughest people. You’ve probably seen it too. A 275-pound man, strong as an ox, with calloused hands and stubble for a beard is handed his newborn son or daughter. This guy could toss 50-pound sacks of feed around with no effort. But you put that little 7-pound bundle in his arms and his strength seems to be sapped away from him. He acts like he’s not sure if he can safely hold his sleeping little child wrapped in a blanket. Newborn babies have a way of doing that.
I can vouch for that. When my 3 children were born, I can remember holding each of them with utter amazement. I touched their cheeks and traced the curve of their nose with my finger tip. And I touched their tiny lips and chin. I wanted to etch their features in my mind. Then I’d run my finger along their soft little hand, and you know what they’d do? Instinctively, they’d curl their little fingers around my big adult finger. They had little or no strength to squeeze but even so, as they grabbed onto my finger, they also grabbed a hold of my heart. When I was a cop, I learned to squelch my emotions and harden my mind to situations that would make most people cry. But when my babies grabbed a hold of my finger all of that melted away. That’s when the tears of joy would flow. As the years went by and my children grew up, they still had a hold of my heart. And they could melt it with 4 simple words: “I love you Daddy.”
What got me to thinking about this was a song by a contemporary Christian band. It’s called “Adoration.” The singer imagines himself joining the shepherds as they go to the stable to see the newborn Son of God. As he approaches Jesus in the manger, listen to what the song says:
He raises a wrinkled hand
Through the dust and the flies
Wrapped in rags like we are
And with barely open eyes
He takes my finger
And He won’t let go
And He won’t let go
It’s nothing like I knew before
And it’s all I need to know.
That does a good job of describing the simple but powerful beauty of Christmas. God could have accomplished His plan of salvation in somany ways; ways that the world certainly would have chosen. If us humans would have made the plans for Christ’s arrival, we’d have Him come in a more forceful and spectacular manner. He would have come with a show of power and strength. Well, He will come that way someday when He returns to earth on Judgement Day. But at His first coming on Christmas, He chose the gentle form of a newborn infant.
That ought to tell us something. It ought to remind us that God doesn’t use force to make anyone a believer. Instead, He comes as a little baby. Figuratively, He reaches out with that tiny hand and wraps it around our hearts. With the tender innocence of a child, Christ took a hold of our hearts with His gentle love. In the process, He melted our crusty, sin-hardened hearts. And like the song says, “He won’t let go.” Those tiny little fingers of love have a powerful grip on us and He refuses to let go.
It’s quite an interesting turn of events. Here, this little baby Jesus grabs a hold of our hearts so that we can receive His love and salvation. In Holy Baptism He took a hold of our hearts and made us children of God. And now, like tiny infants, we wrap our trusting little hands around the finger of the Almighty God of heaven. As you do, you are gently holding onto the very heart of God. God doesn’t cry like us humans do, but His heart is filled the same joy of a father or mother holding their newborn child. And you can make His heart melt with 4 simple words: “I love you, Lord.”
As you receive Holy Communion tonight that wonderful exchange takes place again. We reach out and gently touch the Christ Child as He comes to us in the bread and wine with His body and blood that He sacrificed on the cross. And He once again wraps Himself around your heart with His gentle love and He won’t let go. He removes all your sins and grants you His loving forgiveness. All we can do is receive Him and hold Him in our hearts by faith. He comes to us with His unforced love and we in turn bow before Him with praise to God for this gentle miracle that comes to us in the Christ Child. And the best part is that He doesn’t just come to us in this gentle way on Christmas Eve but all throughout the year as we gather to worship Him. May His gentle grip bring you peace and joy this Christmas as you worship Him as your Savior and Lord. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria