A Naked Baby in a Mucky Manger

After all the vitriol of who’s got it right, it still comes down to this: a naked baby in a mucky stall.

The manger teaches us that the gospel is bottom-up good news.  A naked baby, one from the lowest, helpless, poorest segments of society, was the Lamb of God!!  There is no other gospel.

The top-down approach which had been the popular approach since Moses was shown for what it was – inadequate.  While it looked good in its robes, synagogues and Temple, they were still naked sinners.  Clothed, warm, rich and secure people rarely make saviors.  Many just don't get it.  

While we think the more we do, the more we have, and the more we know will make us presentable to God, we are hopeless.  God uses our naked self – who we are without our fine clothes, big houses, large cars and bloviated opinions, beliefs and bigotry. These are of no consequence to how God perceives us. 

Let’s be a naked baby in the mucky stall and let God use us as God will – anything more is silly.  Once you get it – you can’t un-get it.