Encountering Christmas - Stranger Things
Encountering Christmas: When Faith Gets Strange Again
Christmas has become so familiar that we might be missing its most profound truth: it's actually incredibly strange. When we step back from our traditions and expectations, we discover that the birth of Jesus is filled with mystery, wonder, and the unexpected. This Christmas season, what if we allowed ourselves to encounter the strangeness of God's love story all over again?
What Does It Mean to Encounter Christmas?
The word "encounter" carries a different weight than simply examining or surviving the holidays. An encounter suggests something unexpected, relational, and mysterious. It's about happening upon something that can't be perfectly explained or contained in a neat box.
Throughout Scripture, we see this pattern of divine encounters. Abraham met three mysterious strangers who promised him a son. Jacob wrestled with God all night, refusing to let go without a blessing. Moses saw a bush that burned but wasn't consumed and chose to investigate this "strange sight."
Why Christmas Needs to Be Strange Again
The central truth of Christmas is Emmanuel - God with us. The Creator of the cosmos came through the birth canal of a teenage peasant girl, with no place to lay His head from the very beginning. This is not normal. It's wonderfully, mysteriously strange.
When we let Christmas be strange again, we open ourselves to encounter God in fresh ways. We move beyond the familiar carols and traditions to rediscover the radical nature of the Incarnation.
Three Strange Things About the Christmas Story
The Strange Star
The Magi declared, "We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." This wasn't an ordinary celestial event. The star had the ability to move, to stop, and to guide these travelers directly to Jesus. Whether it was a supernova, planetary conjunction, or angelic light, it was undeniably strange.
What's remarkable is that these wise men saw something unusual and chose to follow it. They had the courage to pursue truth wherever it might lead them, even at great personal cost. They looked for the strange and weren't afraid to investigate.
The Strange Gifts
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were common items in that era, but bringing them together was unusual. Each gift carried deep symbolic meaning:
Gold represented Jesus as King
Frankincense symbolized His divinity
Myrrh foreshadowed His death and burial
These weren't random presents but thoughtful, costly, symbolic offerings that somehow captured the full scope of who Jesus would be. The Magi gave strangely - with intention, symbolism, and sacrifice.
How This Challenges Our Giving
We give gifts at Christmas because of this passage, but we often miss that we're also called to give gifts to the Lord. Strange giving moves beyond normal consumer patterns. Instead of "it's mine, I earned it," strange giving says "it's His, I'm entrusted with it."
This kind of generosity feels unnatural because something in our nature resists it. Yet when we move from normal to strange in our giving, we discover the joy of being vessels through which God's love flows.
The Strange Visitors
Perhaps most surprising of all, the Magi weren't part of God's chosen people. They were likely from modern-day Iraq or Iran - foreigners with different beliefs and practices. Yet God placed them right at the center of the Christmas story.
This reveals God's heart for all people from all places. There's no favoritism with God. He loves someone from Venezuela as much as someone from America, someone from Iran as much as someone from Canada.
God Still Meets Strangers Today
Remarkably, God continues to encounter people from the Middle East through dreams, just as He warned the Magi in a dream. Many Muslims today are having dreams of a man in a white robe, leading them to seek out Christians who can explain what they've experienced.
This reminds us that God's strange ways of reaching people haven't changed. He still uses the unexpected to draw people to Himself.
The Power of Welcoming Strangers
Fresh Eyes on Familiar Traditions
When we invite outsiders into our Christmas celebrations, they help us see with new eyes. A foreign exchange student looking at a Christmas tree saw only decorations, not the tree itself. This helped his host family realize they might be missing the central truth of Christmas beneath all their traditions.
Unexpected Richness
Biblical hospitality reflects how God became flesh and entered our neighborhood, welcoming us in. When we extend this same welcome to others - neighbors, coworkers, those who find themselves alone during the holidays - we often discover unexpected richness in our own celebrations.
As one person discovered when inviting two nuns in for a simple meal, there's something transformative about gathering around a table with strangers. The laughter, curiosity, and questions draw us closer to one another and closer to God.
When Life Feels Strange
For some, life has become strange in difficult ways - through loss, divorce, illness, or other upheavals. The familiar has become foreign, and everything feels different. Even in these seasons, there's room for encounter with God's love.
Sometimes we don't hear from God in the ways we expect, but we can still experience His companionship and unrelenting love in ways that are hard to explain but unmistakably real.
Life Application
This week, choose to let Christmas be strange again. Look for the mysterious, the unexpected, the wonderful strangeness of God's love story. Consider these questions:
What familiar Christmas tradition could you see with fresh eyes this year?
How might God be calling you to give strangely - with more intention, symbolism, or sacrifice?
Who is the "stranger" God might be prompting you to welcome into your Christmas celebration?
Where in your life do you need to have the courage to investigate something strange that God might be doing?
The Christmas story reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. His love comes wrapped in mystery, delivered through unexpected messengers, and offered to all people. When we embrace the strangeness of Christmas, we open ourselves to encounter the God who still moves in mysterious and wonderful ways.
Setlist
WFC Lenexa + WFC Anywhere
I Thank God - Maverick City Music
Graves Into Gardens - Elevation Worship
Thank You Jesus For The Blood - Charity Gayle
Glorious Day - Passion
WFC Speedway
Graves Into Gardens - Elevation Worship
Gratitude - Brandon Lake
Great Are You Lord - All Sons & Daughters
Firm Foundation (He Won’t) Maverick City Music
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