December 11, 2025

“For unto us a child is born…”
​
Dear Friends and Family in Christ,

There is something beautiful about God’s idea of fitting and good. If we were to learn anything from our scriptures, it is that God’s ways are almost never straightforward. Last year, YouTube’s Mark Rober held a contest among his staff. The prize was a brand new “Toyota.” The expectation of the new car spurred them on, but the lucky winner was awarded a plush new toy Yoda.  The little green figurine—adorable as it was— disappointed expectations. These contestants wanted a car. But, to the true disciples of George Lucas’ imaginations, no heap of rubber and metal could compare to the prize-on-offer.
Being Christian is very much like that. We are called to hold on for what God says is good, and look at the world through Christmas-shaded glasses.

God’s been doing this sort of thing forever. King David was the runt of the family. He was handsome enough, “ruddy” for sure, but stuck doing chores when the prophet Samuel came by to choose a king. Imagine their confusion when Samuel reached the end of that great line, when each candidate had been divinely dismissed, and one of them had to go fetch baby face from the fields to be crowned king. But David was God’s choice, and it was their’s to receive with joy. 

In Bethlehem, so many years ago, they waited for David’s offspring to throw off the shackles of oppression, to banish foreign aggressors, and to take his place as king and ruler. So God acted. In a manger, alongside a peevish assortment of cattle (Jesus was, after all, sleeping on their food), Jesus was born king in much the same way as his ruddy predecessor. 

Christians welcome the newborn Messiah. Not the infant pre-messiah, nor even the diminutive king-in-waiting. At that moment, shrouded in scraps of cloth, tempting hungry herbivores to a change of diet, Jesus, the son of God, the word of God in creation, God in the flesh, was worshipped by shepherds, angels, and two spellbound relatives in all his palm-sized glory. To them a child had been born. And to God, this was fitting and good. 

The whole goal of Christmas is to learn to see things God’s way. On Christmas morning, expectations be damned, we celebrate the greatest gift ever given. We revel in the joy of our infant Saviour. To us a child is born. And he is more than we could ask or imagine. He is the wonderful counsellor, the prince of peace, our saviour, and our God. This Christmas we will welcome our newborn king, and we will abandon every other expectation to embrace the joy of what was given.

May the God of infinite goodness scatter the darkness of sin and brighten your hearts with holiness; and the blessing of God almighty, ☩ the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.

The Rev’d Dr. Justin Comber
Rector
St. George's Anglican Church, Goderich
and Christ Church, Port Albert.