There was an unusual baby born in Palestine several winters ago. This baby was a Palestinian Arab by birth. She was found abandoned in a roadside heap of trash hear the West Bank town of Ramallah, one of the scenes of violence in the war between Jews and Arabs. She was taken to a Palestinian hospital and saved by a group of Muslim doctors. She was named "Salaam," which is Arabic for "peace."
Salaam found a permanent home a few days after her birth in a home run by Christian nuns in Bethlehem. But her health worsened. She was turning blue and losing weight. The Palestinian doctors determined that Salaam had a hole in her heart, and her lungs weren't receiving enough blood circulation. Lacking the facilities to do surgery, the baby was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem. Israeli doctor Eli Migalter operated on Salaam. The Jewish surgeon worked for free. The nuns in Bethlehem raised nearly $11,000 to pay for hospital costs. Following the operation, Salaam made a full recovery.
That winter, Arabs, Christians, and Jews crossed the boundaries of their hatred and conflict to unite in caring for a little child, whose name was "peace." If that's not a Christmas story, I don't know what is.
This is a stories of life, mercy and grace. Christmas is a story of God's love for us and how our lives are transformed through His grace. Our theme for 2012 is "52 Stories." I am starting a new sermon series the second week in January about the "The Power of Story." Hopefully each week throughout the year we will hear from some of you, your stories of grace, hope and transformation. God is all about the "Story!" Have a blessed week.
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