For the most part, people all over the world, Christians and non Christians, have pretty much stopped believing in miracles. There is too much pain and suffering going around to believe that someday the fighting and killing will stop. That would certainly be a miracle in itself, let alone on Christmas. But if you look hard enough, even at our own terrible history, you'll see that there have been quite a few Christmas miracles. If you need some examples, keep reading. A gentleman was scheduled to do the Christmas sermon for his church because the minister was on vacation that week. He had everything prepared. He went over his sermon with the minister the week before to get it approved and made all last minute corrections before he gave it. Then, that morning, he woke up, deathly ill. He couldn't speak, his throat was so sore from the terrible cold he had. There was no way he was going to make it to church. The sermon wasn't about to come off. And then, the miracle happened. The man went into his study, got on his hands and knees and prayed to God to somehow give him the strength to make it to church and deliver the sermon. To make a long story short, within an hour, his throat cleared up enough to be able to deliver that sermon. Yes, he needed a glass of water at the pulpit and he didn't sound as good as he could, but he did give that sermon. A Christmas miracle had indeed come his way. But one of the greatest miracles of Christmas came on December 25, 1914. It was during the first world war. It was out in the trenches where the British army was worn and battered. They simply didn't want to fight that day. They thought, wouldn't it be something if we could get the German army, at the other end of the battlefield, in their own trenches, to agree to a cease fire, just for that day. Well, they put out the word. At first the Germans thought it was a trick. But it was no trick. The British soldiers laid down their rifles. Eventually the German soldiers did the same. The German generals were so worried about this that they ordered their men to attack, but they didn't. For one day during the war in 1914, the fighting had stopped. There are those who will claim that these things were no miracles. Certainly in comparison to turning stones into bread and water into wine and raising men from the dead, these do indeed fall far from what we would call a modern day miracle. But in a world where we can't turn on the news without hearing about killings and muggings and war breaking out somewhere, it's comforting to know that during one of the bloodiest wars in the history of our planet, two sides were able to put down their weapons for just one day and stop the fighting. It may not be a miracle. But it will certainly never be forgotten. |
