Have you heard the news out of Buckingham Palace? The magazines at my local Kroger are proclaiming the news on every cover:
A baby is going to born this next year to His Royal Highness Prince William of England and his wife, Kate Middleton.
The pregnancy's progress will be reported continually in the months to come. All eyes will be on London as this little one makes his or her way into the world. The announcement of the birth will be blasted all over the internet the second it occurs. The whole world will be informed and the media will be racing to be the first one to capture all details of the birth and pictures of the new prince or princess.
If you were Buckingham Palace's spokesperson to the rest of the world, how would you announce the birth of this special baby?
I can guarantee you would not report that the birth of the future heir to the throne was born in a Judean cave that housed animals because there were no other accomodations available. The baby's mother would not have begun labor just after an arduous journey over rough terrain riding on a donkey. The best medical care would have been available instead of a young, inexperienced and frightened father who had never attended a birth before. You would have accomplished what has never been done before by having a heavenly host praising God as the angels announced the new King's birth, but it would have been a PR catastrophe because the birth was announced to the lowest of society, just poor shepherds, who were not expecting the news at all. These common men would never have made the A list of the world's superstars that the infant King would deserve to have as His first visitors! Worst of all blunders, the rest of the world would have gone on unaware of this most amazing event.
You would lose your job, no question about it, if this is the way you decided to announce the royal birth.
Foolishness is the word the world would use for God the Father's plan to declare the birth of His beloved Son, Jesus, who came to save people from their sin. And yet, as I stand here a broken, unworthy, poor sinner, desperately needing salvation from the ravages of sin and rebellion, God's "foolish" birth announcement is shown for all its glorious wisdom! I will never have access to Buckingham Palace. I will never be on the A list of celebrities. My financial status would never qualify me to approach a king.
The glorious truth is that because of the humility of my King's birth, I am allowed to humble myself before Him and receive the greatest gift this world has ever been offered - eternal life and freedom from sin's grip. Salvation is offered to anyone who would receive God the Father's gift through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Have you received this most precious gift of the King of kings?
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Shawn Lantz is a speaker and author whose most recent work is the popular women’s bible Encountering the Healing Power of Forgiveness (Living with Unmet Desires Series). Lantz is on the women’s ministry team of her home church in Nashville and has been involved in women’s ministry for nearly a decade. Her previous books include Exposing the Many Faces of Jealousy (Living with Unmet Desires Series) bible study as well as Congo Vignettes, a biography chronicling three generations of Lantz’ family as missionaries to the Democratic Republic of Congo. For more information, www.ShawnLantz.com.
