24th December 2024

When you think of Christmas, what words come to mind? For many families, it’s ‘turkey’, ‘presents’, ‘credit card’ or ‘stress’. Christians might think of words like, ‘peace’, ‘goodwill’, ‘Saviour’, or ‘Jesus’. As I’ve been going through the Christmas story again this year, the one word that has struck me is ‘vulnerable’. Someone who is vulnerable ‘is weak and without protection, with the result that they are easily hurt physically or emotionally.’¹ And as I read the Christmas story, I see nothing but vulnerability.

Jesus, fully God, with the power and majesty and glory of the Sovereign Lord, became a tiny vulnerable baby. Vulnerable during those first three months after conception: would the Son of God grow and develop safely inside the womb of Mary? Would Jesus be delivered safely?  And then born in the company of animals, vulnerable to all manner of germs, a precarious position for the Son of God to be in.

Then there was Mary, probably a young teenager, engaged to be married, and suddenly told she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. How vulnerable must she have felt? How could anyone possibly believe this fanciful tale that she had become pregnant by the Holy Spirit? And what would happen to her? Would Joseph turn his back on her, would her family ostracise her, would she be stoned to death as the law required for adultery? She must have felt very vulnerable. And Joseph himself, an upstanding figure in the community, now his reputation would be in tatters. Vulnerable to all the wagging tongues, probably blamed for having sex before marriage. 

And then, there were the shepherds. They were hated and despised, regarded as the lowest of the low within their society, and believed to be thieves and liars. While they were minding their own business an angel of the Lord appeared before them in a blaze of light (Luke 2:9). They were terrified and must have felt extremely vulnerable.

The whole Christmas story speaks of vulnerability. And in a sense, we are all vulnerable because we are all sinners who have come short of the glory of God, and face death as a result (Romans 3:23, 6:23). So, if you are in any way worrying about your salvation and feeling vulnerable, then the Christmas story is for you. Because while it contains a message of vulnerability, it’s also a message of great security. You may be frightened, you may be in a difficult position, you may be extremely vulnerable, but don’t be afraid, don’t fear, because Jesus the Saviour, Christ the Lord, has been born to you. (Luke 2:11). 

‘Do not be afraid’, the angel said to Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds. And God is speaking those same words of comfort and freedom from vulnerability to us today. He says to each one of us, ‘Don’t be afraid, this baby is your Saviour’. So, let us come afresh to Jesus, the Saviour of all human beings, and as we do so we will find that for our fear we have peace, and for our vulnerability we have salvation.

 ¹ VULNERABLE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead 
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London

NW6 2BA

Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm

Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:  
wordoflife@gracecom.church