"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Isn't it ironic that we have become a nation of heavy eaters, but when it comes to feasting on the food from heaven, we have become lightweight eaters?

Christmas is a joyous season. We worship, we sing and we exchange gifts. We gather with friends and family in festive celebrations. At these gatherings there is always an abundance of good food…. that can lead to an expansion of our waistlines.

One of the carols of this season starts with these lines: “O Little Town of Bethlehem….” The word “Bethlehem” literally means “place of food.”

We could sing, “O Little Town of Good Food….” Or, better yet, we could sing,“O Little Town of God’s Good Food.”

For that is what is born on Christmas, THE BREAD OF HEAVEN, God’s food for life.

The Bible tells us that the Christ child was laid in a manger…. which was a feeding trough for the animals.

The manger is our feeding trough.

In the Christ child we find food for our lives. Jesus would say later, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Jesus was referring to his death on the cross for the sake of the world.

Isn’t it ironic that we have become a nation of heavy eaters, but when it comes to feasting on the food from heaven we have become light-weight eaters?

The Word needs to be digested into our system. The bread of heaven needs to be tasted and savored.

The body of Christ needs to be received, consumed and then shared with the world, for we live in a starving world dying from hunger.

In this Bethlehem hymn that we sing this time of year we hear this promise:

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming; but, in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

What is remarkable about this is that the promise is not dependent upon us.

Another translation for “Bethlehem” is “place of fighting.” Our word “bedlam” comes from this word.

The promise is this: that even in the midst of our bedlam, our fighting, our confusion and our sin the Christ enters in… to give us the food from heaven.

My prayer and hope for you during this season is that you might be open to the Christ Child entering your heart once again. I pray that in the midst of the bedlam of your life you might feast on the bread of life.

The Bethlehem hymn closes with a prayer that we all could pray:

O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
Oh, come to us, abide with us our Lord Immanuel!

A Blessed Christmas to All!

Bishop Jim Stuck