Last Sunday night, our children put on their Christmas program. This year it was called “The Loaned Manger.” If you didn’t get a chance to see it, you missed something special. Not only was the music excellent, the choreography delightful and the dialogue hilarious, but the message was powerful.
The setting of the play is 1891 in the small western town of Incarnation. The good citizens are preparing for visitors for their Christmas celebration. The name of the town is “Incarnation,” a reminder that God became flesh and dwelt among us in the birth of Jesus. The citizens are anxious about bringing new innovations to their celebration – like electricity – but they are also frightened about the possibility of desperados interrupting things.
For me, the high point of the play is when one of the residents of Incarnation reminds the town that, in God’s eyes, we are all “desperados.” That’s why God sent Jesus, so we might be forgiven and reconciled with him.
As we continue our Advent journey toward Christmas, I am proud to do so alongside the desperados of First Christian Church of Keokuk. Ornery as we are, God still loves us and has big plans for us!