Of the Father’s love begotten Ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see Evermore and evermore.  LSB 384, St. 1

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Recent brain research has revealed that the human brain is not able to process properly all the little data factoids we are bombarded with in the media. Fans of televised sports events know how the networks love to hit us with arcane statistics which, in the bigger picture, probably don’t have a shred of real relevance. For instance, the Cowboys are 13 of their last 14 on 3^rd down conversions when it’s raining in Iran and the average Lake Michigan water temperature is warmer than normal? Almost 95% of such statistics don’t remain very long in the memory. They have a fleeting effect on us. Scientists have observed that they simply register in our limbic systems as something threatening. Our brains process data factoids as threatening. Remember that the next time you turn on the sports or news channels.

Even if we don’t process it in healthy ways, I think we are often fascinated by such data. We still crave it. Many know that watching the 24/7 news media is bad for them, but to get them to turn off the TV is like getting an addict to just up and quit. We’re drawn to this stuff. We love data. We love to categorize it. We love to process it. We love to try to figure it out. Quoting data statistics makes us feel like we know something, and our sense of power and control is often dictated by how much we know…or at least how much we think we know.

This Advent, beginning tonight, we’re going to turn off our limbic systems and their emergency, fight or flight, reactive natures. We’re going to relax and rest in the love of God the Father. We’re going to let the light of Christ shine in the darkness of this world and all its anxiety-producing spectacle. We’re going to meditate on things higher than the media’s incessant chatter. We’re going to contemplate the unexplainable. Rather than explain, we’re going to trust. There is a better message, a higher one, a deeper one. It’s the message of Christ.

No factoid or data or trivia can measure who Jesus is. He is true God and true man. He is God in human skin, flesh and bone. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the Source and the Ending. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is eternal, timeless and limitless, while mysteriously still operating in a human body.

In the manger, Jesus is God in diapers. In the Temple at age 12, He is the expert befuddling the so-called experts. In the Jordan River, at John’s baptism of Him, He is numbering Himself as a sinner even though He knew no sin. He touches lepers and does not contract the disease. He preaches with an authority unlike the experts had ever heard. He shows compassion, but can be dismissive of pretenders. On the cross, He is God being shamed by humans. He is loved of God and forsaken by Him for our sake.

The mind cannot process it. In fact, it can’t even begin to process it. God’s love is a mystery. The worlds began to be as an expression of his love. His gift of a Son to endure cross and shame is a gift of love, and if we struggle to define and understand anything, it’s love. God is love. Christ is love, and as such, impossible to reduce to a meme, a factoid, a Twitter post, a statistic. Christ transcends all that.

And that is why His is the better message. The mind needs mystery. We need to know there is something bigger than us, beyond our understanding, past the limited scope of our thoughts. The Father loved the world and gave His one and only Son. Why He did that is beyond our understanding. The Son obeyed the Father perfectly and gave up His life to save us who could not save ourselves. Why He did that is beyond our understanding. The Holy Spirit teaches Christ and makes sinful humans holy, saints. Why He does that is beyond our understanding. The Son will return to give us a new heavens and a new earth where we will share thrones with Him. Why He will do that is beyond our understanding.

This Advent, we rejoice in a God whose ways are not ours, they are bigger and better. His love is bigger than your sins. His Word is bigger than your fears. His grace is bigger than your shame. His life is bigger than your death.

So rest in His peace. So celebrate in His joy. So luxuriate in His love. This Advent, this child, this Savior, this Lord is FOR YOU. And that’s all you need to ever know. AMEN.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.