He Came in Person: Three Stories That Reveal the Heart of Christmas - 14th December 2025

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Three short stories that might

not seem very Christmassy, but in fact get to the heart of Christmas.

Once upon a time, and that's how all good stories start, don't they?

Once upon a time, a very rich man lived in a lavish house with his only son.

He had no wife, But his wealth enabled him to live in luxury.

All he had to do to have something done at his home was to ring a bell and a

servant would appear and he didn't have to do anything.

The servant would do the lot. He would never have to leave his office.

But one day, when he was working at his office desk, he heard a cry from outside in the garden.

And out of the window he saw that his son had fallen from a tree that he was climbing.

What did he do?

Didn't call for a servant. He didn't ask for help.

He got up out of his office and raced himself to help his son,

because this was a task too important to be left to others.

He had to come in person.

Well, a couple of thousand years ago, God saw the human race as in trouble,

and he didn't send a team of angels.

He didn't send up a board of inquiry.

He didn't produce a white paper on what needed to be done. God so loved the

world that he didn't send a committee.

He sent Jesus in person.

You see, our estranger from God needed his personal attention,

and God knows, as many of us know, that if you want something done, you do it yourself.

Christmas time reminds us that when God saw there was a problem,

He came down here, did it himself.

It was too important to be left to anyone else.

Second story. I told you these stories are short. Our second story fills out how God came in person.

Once upon a time, that phrase again, there was a rich and powerful king who

had absolutely everything, but he lacked one thing, a wife.

Well, one day as he rode in his kingdom, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He just had to marry her.

Problem. She was a poor peasant girl and he was a rich and powerful king.

So what he thought, what can I do? What can I do?

I can issue a royal command to say, come to my palace and I demand that you marry me.

What sort of marriage would that be?

What sort of love would that be? No, no, no, he couldn't do that.

He dismissed the idea and he still thought paying her a royal visit.

He'd come along with a great retinue of other people and he would impress her.

He would overwhelm her with his wealth and power. Problem.

Would she fall in love with his wealth and power or with him?

Projected that idea. Perhaps he could disguise himself as a peasant.

But then again, such deceit might annoy her once she found out.

Well, he figured the only way to truly win her love was to become a peasant.

He gave up all that he had, all his power and privilege and wealth,

in order to get what he most desired.

And so in time, this peasant, this real peasant,

Married this beautiful peasant girl, and like in all good stories,

they lived happily ever after.

When Jesus walked the earth, he wasn't a pretend man.

He wasn't walking around the earth pretending to be a human being.

He was a human being, and to become a human being, he had to give up all that he had in heaven.

Just like that king gave up all that he had in order to marry the love of his life.

And so, the third story.

Once upon a time, a newly-crowned king wanted to do something special to show that he was a good king.

And so he said to his advisors, Look, go out and find the poorest citizen you can in my kingdom,

because I want to pay a visit to that person and bestow on them wealth and privileges

to show that I'm a generous, compassionate king.

He sent his servants out, and they finally settled on an utterly destitute woman

living in a run-down hovel in a far corner of the country.

And they said to the woman, be prepared to receive the king once a date was

set, and they'd let her know when the visit would take place.

When they came to do so, the woman pleaded with them, please don't let the king visit.

Things aren't ready. I've got this hovel. It's terrible. It's dirty.

It's unhygienic. It's on the verge of falling down.

I can't let the king come to visit me the way I am now.

No, please delay his visit.

And so they went back to the king and the visit was delayed.

Well, then they return again. But once more, the woman said,

no, no, no, it's not in the house. It's me. I'm not ready.

Look at me, shrunken, bedraggled.

What sort of greeting can I give to that king when he comes?

And so the visit was delayed again. And then there was a final visit from the

royal servant, saying, Your last chance.

Will you receive the king?

But no, the same old excuses were poured out.

And so the planned visit did not take place. She would never be ready.

Her focus on her poverty meant she refused to receive the only one who could end that poverty.

See, it's all very well to speak of God coming in person to us in the person

of Jesus, as I mentioned in those first two stories.

But in fact, if this divine visit doesn't do us any good, we need to accept what's being offered.

Forgiveness, eternal life, friendship with God forever.

And worrying that we're not worthy is to miss the whole point of the Christian

message, the whole point of Christmas.

Jesus came to earth not because we were great and perfect and good.

He came to earth because we weren't great and perfect and good,

and he's come to show us the way.

As that old hymn says, just as I am, I come to you.

Worrying that we're not worthy is to miss the point.

Jesus visits us as we are, without the need to get our lives and our character sorted out.

Please, if you have not yet embraced Jesus Christ this Christmas time,

please don't delay by thinking, oh, I'm not worthy. Of course you're not worthy.

Of course you're imperfect. Of course your life might be a mess,

but Jesus wants to come into the midst of that mess and say, Here I am. I'll help you.

Don't wait till things improve.

Take on hold of Jesus, just as we are.

Letting fear or guilt or shame keep us from Jesus is futile,

because he's the only one who can deal with our fear and our guilt and our shame.

Let me conclude by reading a poem that comes to the heart again of Christmas,

written by U.S. writer Madeleine L'Engle.

He did not wait till the world was ready, till men and nations were at peace.

He came when the heavens were unsteady and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time. He came when the need was deep and great.

He dined with sinners in all their grime, turned water into wine.

He did not wait till hearts were pure.

In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt, to a world like ours of anguished shame.

He came, and his light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh, to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.

In the mystery of the word made flesh, the maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane, to raise our songs with joyful voice.

For to share our grief, to touch our pain, he came with love. Rejoice.

Rejoice. Thank you.