Revealed

The young woman hurried into the store, out of the rain.  She looked rushed, but happy, as she carried a very large box, covered with a trash bag.  

"I called earlier?"

We chatted for a few minutes, as I got all the instructions.  The box was gift-wrapped, all but the unsealed top.  Extra wrapping paper was inside, along with the envelope.  And in the envelope was the secret news.  Our job was to fill the box with balloons, blue if the sonogram technician's report was for a boy, pink if it was for a girl.  No one knew what the baby would be, other than the technician.  The young woman would be back in an hour to pick up the box, so everything would be ready for her friend's "gender reveal" party.

We waited until the woman drove off before my co-workers and I pulled back the black plastic to open the box.  

I reached in for the envelope, as we all looked expectantly at each other.  Inside the envelope we saw it:  the slip of colored paper to indicate what the baby would be.

We cheered.  

And in my heart, I marveled.  We didn't know the customer. We didn't know anyone in the family. We didn't know the mother, or anything about her - how old she was, whether this baby was her first, if she was married, or would she be able to care for the child.  We were just strangers, celebrating life.  And we would have reacted the same, had the little rectangle of color been pink or blue.  

And I got to thinking.  There was a gender reveal in the Bible, predicted in the ancient books of the Old Testament in several places.  First of all, there was what theologians call the Protoevangelium - the "first Gospel", back in Genesis 3:15 - when the earth was still new, the curse was pronounced, and Adam and Eve were still reeling from what they had done.   There were several others who spoke of the One to come:  David, Zechariah, Micah.  There was the prophecy of Isaiah, about a miraculous conception, and a God who stays with us. 

Centuries later, when the time got close - that "fullness" of time, such a great word to describe an imminent birth - several more were in on the secret.  Mary got the news from a busy angel, who six months before had delivered news to a woman long past her prime.  A warrior angel - telling women the most precious of announcements. Was it Gabriel again, who appeared in a dream to Joseph, letting him in on the greatest event of human history?  The angel of the Lord isn't named, but either way, that was quite a dream. 

And then, when the journey to Bethlehem was complete and the manger was occupied, hosts of angels filled the sky with praise, and a star emerged to light the long way to wise men in a distant land.

It was the news that couldn't be kept - shouldn't be kept - and can't be kept even now.  

Unto us - a Son.

Jesus.  A Savior. 

Emmanuel. 

And so we celebrate - new life, new hope, a baby boy, and more - way more. God is with us....