A break-in at the church? And at Christmas-time of all things! However, it wasn’t at all what the police suspected.
KAY DEMOSS
Senior Content Editor
I grew up in Vicksburg, a village of about 3,000 people just south of Kalamazoo. It was and still is a great place to live. Folks are friendly, the pace is slow, and the best of rural, small-town values shape the lives of its residents.
That’s why everyone was so surprised, on that cold December night, to hear that there was a break-in at Vicksburg United Methodist Church, right there across from the Fire Station on the edge of downtown.
A police drive-by had spotted people in the dark lower lobby of the church. Intruders? At Christmas? How rude! How bold!
But as the officers approached the doorway with care, they discovered that it was a false alarm.
Their flashlights revealed a holiday surprise. There in the lobby stood the life-size figures of the nativity set that my parents had made several years before. Cruising the street, the police had mistaken the three Wise Men for prowlers. With a chuckle and a “Merry Christmas,” they got back in the patrol car and resumed their efforts at keeping the peace in Vicksburg.
A false alarm. But was it, really?
Breaking in. Isn’t that what God does every Christmas and every day in little towns like Bethlehem and Vicksburg and wherever it is you live? God breaks in to remind us that his wondrous, down-to-earth love is for all, not some, but all. God breaks in to prove that justice, peace, truth, mercy, and love rule his world.
May we enter the New Year as wise as those standing beside the manger in the lobby of Vicksburg United Methodist Church. Let us adore him, then let us take the light he brings us and break in every dark corner of the world.
On behalf of Bishop David Bard and the Michigan Conference staff, I wish you all a Blessed and Breaking-in kind of Christmas.
Note: MIconnect resumes publication on January 8, 2020. Mifaith will next come into your email on January 10, 2020.
Last Updated on December 21, 2019