Published on 12/6/2004

When I was a kid, it was about now that Christmas seemed it would never come. I'd already visited Santa with my list of expected toys. We didn't have a fireplace, but he assured me he would get them under my tree anyway. Now there was nothing to do but wait. And I hate to wait.

Commentary

It's not that Americans aren't doing our part. Today’s New York Times reports consumer spending is at an all-time historic high, eclipsing the spending rush after World War II and comprising 80 percent of our national income. And still Christmas won't come.

It would be worse if you're a University of California football fan. Their coach refused to run up the score against Southern Mississippi, and their team lost enough voter points to be replaced in a Bowl Championship Series game by the University of Texas. If you're a Longhorn, you know where to send a Christmas present.

It would be worse if you're a plaintiff with a ruling pending in Judge George B. Daniels's Federal District Court in Manhattan. Today's Times reports that Judge Daniels recently held 289 motions in civil cases pending for more than six months, by far the highest total of any federal judge in the nation. One woman had to wait three years to gain access to her deceased husband's pension. Another person died while waiting for his ruling. Judge Daniels has no comment, but the front-page story can't make his Christmas any merrier.

We’re not the first to wait. After the prophets first promised a Messiah, the Jewish people had to wait seven centuries for his arrival. Why did Christmas finally come when it did? It's actually a fascinating story. Paul wrote, "…when the time had fully come, God sent his Son" (Galatians 4:4). Why had the time "fully come" when Jesus arrived?

The Roman Empire ruled the world, bringing the "Pax Romana" (the "peace of Rome") which allowed the gospel to spread across the Empire. The Romans built roads upon which missionaries traveled; Greek was a language universal enough to allow those missionaries to speak to every nation; Jewish synagogues across the Empire gave the missionaries a starting point; and a universal hunger for truth made the people open to the message of God's word. Today's travel restrictions, regional wars, and language barriers would make it impossible to duplicate the apostolic church's immediate expansion of God's Kingdom. Christmas did indeed come at just the right time.

And the One who came then will come again, when the time has "fully come." As you wait to celebrate the first Christmas, are you ready for the second one?