Christmas Musings

I've just got back from Christmas service. Today's sermon was rather interesting as the preacher used several examples which caught my attention.

The first example which got me all perked and attentive was this: "Santa is Satan. Just move the 'N' to the back and you have proof."
Now don't get me wrong. I still don't think that Santa has anything to do with Christmas, and that he may very well be one of Satan's many shiny distractions from the real reason for Christmas, BUT... anagrams just don't cut it as reasonable grounds for justifying that statement. It's like saying we shouldn't live, because it's spelt 'evil' backwards.

The other thing which got my attention was something a little more serious. Subtle, but serious indeed. The preacher, in trying to illustrate the significance of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, used this example:
"There was a drawbridge operator. One day his son got caught in the gears of the drawbridge while a ship was approaching. The bridge needed to be lifted so that the ship wouldn't crash into the bridge, but the operator's son was caught in the gears. The operator made the most painful choice: he sacrificed his son in the gears so that the ship and its passengers could go through safely."
Note: we are the passengers, god the Father is the operator, and God the Son is the son.
I don't know what this sounds like to you, but to me, it sounds like, in the words of Steve Chalke, cosmic child abuse - Poor, innocent, third party Jesus got crushed so that we could live. This analogy would be a very bad one, since it ignores the fact that the Father and the Son are the same Godhead. Therefore, I believe, that as evangelical Christians, we must be at all times consciously and intentionally trinitarian.