For all the boots of the tramping warrior and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.   Isaiah 9:5 

In the aftermath of the Newtown shootings, where the garments rolled in blood were mostly size 6, it is comforting to read that at the coming of the Prince of Peace, those bloody garments will become fuel for God’s fire, right along with the bloody boots of the shooter.

All because of the birth of a child.

Those who mourn the death of children
            Will be comforted

Because of the birth of a child.

For a child has been born for us,
      A son given to us;
Authority rests upon his shoulders;
      And he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
      Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

Those who mourn the death of children
      Will be comforted

Because of the birth of a child.

The child is born for us, and we cry out to him.
“Come, Wonderful Counselor. Listen as we scream and wail and cry out, ‘Why?’”
“Come, Mighty God. Gather and restore the shreds of our broken hearts.”
“Come, Everlasting Father. Wrap us up in your everlasting arms.”
“Come, Prince of Peace. Fill our hearts with your peace that is beyond our comprehension and beyond our willing it to happen. Bless us with the healing that calms the chaos and soothes the anguish and quiets the screaming when nothing makes sense.”

Because of the birth of a child there is hope.

Not wishful thinking – the wish that things could be different. And better. Real hope is not wishing but rather it is the willful choice to anchor our past, our present and our future in God. We put all our hope in God, because God keeps his promises. The birth of the child Jesus is the greatest evidence that we can trust God now and forever. 

A nation grieves for fallen children, and tonight we are reminded by the birth of our Eternal Savior that God knows and loves each child. Every child. Every schoolchild. Every newborn baby. Every baby waiting to be born. Every baby that is barely a cell and a dream in his mother’s womb. God knows each one and calls each one by name, just has he called to John the Baptist in the womb and called to Jesus in the womb when their mothers met. We can safely hope in the One who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to death and then raised him to life that we might have eternal hope. 

All because of the birth of a child.