Christmas is for paupers, beggars and thieves. Jesus Christ came for the broken, oppressed, harassed and haggard. Emmanuel, God with us … the least of us. The Christ child was born for the lost, lonely and forgotten.

Christmas is for the needy, the unkept, the unclean. A manger for the poor … a manger for the peasants … a manger for God’s orphans.

Christmas is for those who mourn, those who breathe perpetual sorrow, those who cannot move on. A holy night for the widows … a holy night for the lonely souls.

Christmas is for those who fear, for the heavy hearted, for the depressed and desperate. Messiah came for the discarded, damaged, and belittled. Messiah came for those who weep. He was born for those who bury their hurt and carry it within their breath.

Christmas is for the addict, for those who pierce the vein and numb the heart. For those marked and marginalized by irrational addiction. For those who steal, lie, and deceive to perpetuate self-harm and destruction. A sacred star for the addict, Bethlehem’s star for God’s prodigal sons and daughters.

Christmas is for the atheist, agnostic, and apathetic. Christmas is for fallen saints and glorified sinners. For disgraced politicians and washed-up celebrities. For powerless women and forgotten children.

Christmas is for the enemies of God. For the death rows and skid rows. Christmas is for every nation, every tribe, and every tongue. Within the nativity there is room. There is room within God’s nativity.

Christmas is God with us and for us. Christmas is favor, grace, goodness and beauty. For God so loved the world. For God so loved you and me that he chose to make his home with us, to dwell with us, and love us with his presence. He came for the paupers, beggars and thieves. He came for me.

I am part of this Christmas story. I cannot escape the truth that I was nothing until Christ called my name. He is my meaning, my purpose, my best. In Christ I have life … I have simply found the reason for everything! I am reminded daily that it is only by and through God’s love and grace that I stand.

I am not a self-made man. I am not a person of noble birth or fine character. I am simply a wayward fool rescued by a savior who looked beyond my fault and saw my need. I have been made whole by a God who chose to love me in spite of myself. He chose to graft me into His family.

This Christmas, I pray you find the courage to embrace the gift of Christmas. A gift of endless love and everlasting grace. If anything, Christmas is for people like you and me. Merry Christmas.

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Doug Bursch hosts “The Fairly Spiritual Show” Saturdays at 10 a.m. on KGNW 820 AM. He also pastors Evergreen Foursquare Church. Evergreen meets Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Riverside High School Theater. He can be reached at www.fairlyspiritual.org or doug@fairlyspiritual.org.