For a child has been born for us, a son given for us; authority rests on his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson tells the story of a family named the Herdmans. “The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers.” In the story, the Herdman children had never been to church before they decided to be part of the Presbyterian Church’s Christmas pageant, so when they heard the story of Jesus, it was brand new to them. When one of the Herdman girls, Imogene, hears that Jesus is called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace,” she responds: “He’d never get out of the 1st grade if he had to write all that!”
Unlike Imogene, it’s hard for those of us who have been in church a lot to hear the words of Christmas scripture. We’ve heard the words of Isaiah every year in choir songs, in our Christmas pageant, and in Sunday school–and the words are not new to us. If this is not enough, the Christmas season is so busy and noisy, that it is hard to
listen to anybody really well even someone speaks the words of scripture.
Try this exercise: Imagine walking through the forest on a quiet day with your family and no one speaks for a very long time. Imagine after you walk for a long way in the quiet, you begin to forget about the Christmas lists, the toys you want, the things you need to do and you begin to become aware of your quiet footsteps on the crunchy leaves, the cool air around you, and the warmth of having your family near. When you can imagine this very quiet and still place, imagine someone saying the words of Isaiah out of the silence: “For a child has been born for us, a son given for us; authority rests on his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Maybe for a moment we can hear the words, as Imogene did–for the first time.
Imogene thought “how’d he ever get out of 1st grade if he had to write such a long name”–but what do you think when you take a moment to really hear these words?
What do each of the names for Jesus mean to you?
What names for Jesus would you add to the list if you were the one writing the verse?
Have each family member say one of the names for Jesus that Isaiah used (or ones that your family added to the list): Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. After this, all together say: Thank you for coming to us. Amen.
by Burns, Kim, Isabel, Lollie, and Richard Newsome
From the 2007 Advent Devotional Booklet
Led By Love @ DPC 