There were many books of the early church that did not make the canon. “In the second century, some Christians produced popular literature that told stories of Jesus as a young boy. The best known such book is called the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” It tells of Jesus making clay pigeons that then come to life and fly away. Another time, Joseph cuts a board too short in the carpenter shop and Jesus miraculously stretches it to the right length. He heals his childhood friends and raises one from the dead. But then, on a more disturbing note, a child bumps into him one day in the marketplace and, annoyed, Jesus curses him so that he falls down and dies.” (Emphasis, 2000, Christmastide I)

Obviously these stories are pure fiction and this book was never part of the canon. But these stories do point toward a struggle of the early church of how Jesus was both human and divine. What age did Jesus lay claim upon his divinity? Luke does not deal with this question in length but he does include this story about Jesus missing for three days after the festival of the Passover and his parents found him in the Temple listening and asking questions as the rabbi’s were teaching. We have the first recorded words of Jesus found in this passage as Jesus responded to his parent’s scolding… “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Luke gives us an insight that even at the age of twelve Jesus began to realize that God was at work in his life. Yet, for sure, like all 12 year olds, Jesus did not fully grasp the meaning of his calling. Just to be sure we got it, Luke writes: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.”

Max Lucado, in his book, “God Came Near,” writes this: “The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe had become an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word –chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The Creator of life being created.”(p.25.) And further, “Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in—can he pull us out!” (Ibid, p.27).

Although you and I will never resolve all the questions about the humanity and divinity of Jesus, yet the one thing that no one can deny is that Jesus’ birth changed this world dramatically. And this world was changed through all who chose and all who chooses to believe in him.

Lucado’s rightly defined life as he rightly explained it as “the mire and muck of our world.” Here we are on New Year’s Eve. We have just experienced one of the holiest and joyful days of the Christian Year – Christmas. We are anticipating the New Year with the same excitement of receiving any new thing. Yet the mire and the muck of our world has vividly revealed itself in just a few days after Christmas. We are almost overwhelmed by all that that has happened in less than seven days: the death of James Brown, a man who had his own demons to fight, but one who was respected for his love for his race and actively struggled for civil rights of all people; the death of President Gerald Ford, a great President in his own rite and one who had been labeled as “A Nation’s Healer;” the hanging of Saddam Hussein, a evil man to say the least, yet his hanging brought capital punishment to the forefront globally; add now the front page of our newspapers, along with our own personal challenges in life, and with no hesitation we will cry out for the meaning of Christmas to be realized – for Jesus to pull us out of the mire and muck of life. Yes, Jesus can transform our lives and can transform our world – that is our hope, our prayer and our belief.

Yes, although we are sentimentally moved by the knowledge of the infant Jesus born in a manger, and we are impressed at the growing knowledge of a twelve year old who realized that something was different about his life, yet the purpose of these stories have one very important message to give us – that Jesus was fully human and Jesus certainly understands the mire and muck of life!

It was the human Jesus dealt with the injustices of his political world and his religious world. It was the human Jesus, not a spirit, who died on a cross! And yet it was the divine Jesus that enabled the Cross to be the means for our transformation. And it is the resurrected, living Jesus who now lives in Spirit who works in and through our lives so that the mire and muck will not destroy our hope, our faith and our lives – Christ lives today, tomorrow and the next!

Yes, regardless of our age, the living Christ grows in each of us who believes in him.

Bishop Will Willimon, once shared an episode of his own life that gave him a better understanding of Christmas. The episode occurred on a cold Christmas Eve when he was rushing his family to get to the church as they found themselves running late for the communion service. Willimon writes: “Where are the sermon notes? Where is the pulpit robe? Don’t forget to turn off the lights. Everybody get in the car and be quiet!”

On the way to the church… rushing through the traffic, our 5-year-old- daughter, Harriet, got sick up-chucked all over the car. “Great!” Will I thought, “If people only knew what preachers go through.” I wheeled into the church parking lot and jumped out of the car, leaving my wife, Patsy, to clean up the car and get the kids into the church… and I thought, “If people only knew what preachers’ spouses go through.”

Patsy led a still unsteady and pale Harriet into the church. They sat on the back pew in the darkness… just in case Harriet got sick again. Our son, William, age seven, ran down to the front of the church to sit with his grandparents. I threw on my robe, took a deep breath, and joined the choir for the processional. I made it through the first part of the service… and the sermon. Then came Holy Communion. Patsy came down to the altar to receive the sacrament, but she left 5 year old Harriet on the back pew. Harriet was still so pale and so weak and so sick. But then something beautiful happened.

Seven-year-old William got up and came back to the communion rail. “What on earth is he doing?” I wondered. “He’s already received communion once. What is he up to?” I watched him race to the back of the church and scoot down the pew toward his sister. He opened his hands… revealing a small piece of bread. “Harriet,” he said, “This is the body of Christ given for you.” Without hesitation, little Harriet picked the bread out of her brother’s hands and plopped it into her mouth and said, “Amen.” Then 7-year-old William patted his 5-year-old sister Harriet on the head. He smiled. She smiled. And then he turned and ran back down to the front of the church to re-join his grandparents. It was in that moment I discovered that Holy Communion had never been more holy.” (The Christian Ministry, July-August 1989, p. 47)

Even children gain an insight to one’s spark of divinity. Even children discover the power and grace of the living Christ working in their lives. And yet it was in his adult world that Jesus became fully aware of God’s plan for his life.

Whatever our age, young or old, the living Christ is working in our lives, seeking to reveal God’s plan for us. And the best news of all is this – that when we are facing the mire and the muck of life, that is when the message of Christmas becomes dear. For if we will but let him in, Jesus will pull us out.

As we are facing the New Year, let us not be discouraged – why – because the living Jesus is present today, tomorrow and the next! Amen!