But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Matthew 10:19, 20

Welcome, dear friend, to life in Jesus Christ!  Just now, a few days before Christmas the atmosphere is full of joy because Jesus was born. Lying in the manger or on the lap of his mother he is calm and sweet.   I kneel with others at his side, thanking God for this unspeakable gift, Jesus Christ.  The whole scene speaks of hope, peace, joy and life everlasting.  It is all there in this quite ordinary baby.  Christmas is a happy time.

Fast forward 31 years.  That baby is now a man.  He is the promised Savior.  Listen to his words, startling words, that he utters when he first sends out his disciples.  “When they arrest you…”  Why would they do such a thing?  That was not the immediate concern of Joseph and Mary as they embraced the little child.  But for many of us, we like him as a baby, small, innocent, hungry, crying now and again.  But we shudder a bit when that baby, now a man, warns us that his followers face arrest just for sharing the love of Jesus.  Should not everyone love that little baby?

Welcome, fellow disciple, to the world of Jesus, the Messiah. It is not a strenuous life, it is absurdly impossible!  Those are not welcome words, but hard.   Jesus know that.  Be assured, he said, that it is the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  His followers will be strengthened, in a sense, carried, by the power of God Almighty.

It is one thing to kneel before the Christ child in awe and thanksgiving, as we do at Christmas.  It is another thing to witness to others later on, that he is indeed the promised Messiah who has come to set up His Kingdom among men, with an open invitation to enter the Kingdom by rebirth, and to labor in the Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is what it is all about!  It is a life of joy and suffering, braided into a strong cord of hope.