We have ninja ketchup in our fridge. It’s ninja because everytime I open the door to find it, the ketchup turns invisible. I look and look, and yes I move stuff around but all to no avail. I tell my wife that it must be time to get more ketchup and she asks “why?” as she reaches in and pulls out the bottle of ketchup that has been sitting there all the time. It was there but I couldn’t see it.It was ninja.
I believe this happens to a lot of people regarding Christmas, too. With all the noise and bustle and spending and hurrying, it is easy to miss a holy moment. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who like to holler about how Godless the world has become, they have no hope and some can’t wait for God to get done with this world and get on to the next one.
But right there is the real mystery and power of the Christmas story. God chooses this world, our world, in which to be known. God enters into the complicated, confusing world that we are trying to understand, And God doesn’t come overwhelming us in grandeur and omnipotence. God comes to us born just like any one of us. God comes as a baby needing love and tenderness, as one of us, to give our hearts to just like we do when we hold our children or grandchildren for the first time. It’s so ordinary that it can be easy not to see it. It’s almost ninja.
Just because some can’t see that God loves this world so much that God chooses to join us here, doesn’t mean the world is Godless. Just because the tinsel and flashing lights tend to blind us a little doesn’t mean Jesus won’t be born. It is easy to miss and sometimes hard to see, but Jesus and his manger have been here on Christmas all the time. God joins us again.
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