Welcome to Our World

I realize Welcome to Our World may not be sung as people carol physically distanced through neighborhoods this year. It is kind of a short song, but it is packed with meaning.

The gist of the song is God coming down from heaven as a child for us and how we welcome him to our world. Can we welcome him, even though we might be scared, worried, disappointed, distracted and distanced by COVID? Can we welcome him to our celebration and welcome him to our sadness?

This song reminds me that Christmas is tied to Easter. The baby’s birth we are celebrating is the savior’s death that saves us. He was born to live with us, to walk with us, to teach us and to die for us. It was all part of the plan. God celebrated the birth of Jesus on Christmas knowing the sacrifice of Jesus was down the road. So we can join God in celebrating as we welcome Jesus into our world. Into our joy and happiness and into our sadness. Into those relationships that are bringing us energy and into those relationships that cause us stress. We can welcome him into our sinfulness, asking for his forgiveness. BUT even as we celebrate the joy of Christmas, we can remember it will be followed by the pain of Good Friday AND the greater joy of the resurrection on Easter. The baby born and laid in the manger, grew up  and was killed on the cross. He came back to life and lives forever.

We can look forward to his welcoming us into his world.