Where is the most unusual place you have ever experienced Christmas Day?

Perhaps it was in a foreign country, on the battlefield, or in the hospital. Or, for some of the astronauts that live in our city, even in outer space!  Maybe you were on a special Christmas vacation to some exotic location, a once-in-a-lifetime Christmas.

But have you ever celebrated Christmas in the wilderness?

I raise that question because, as we have learned in Revelation 12:6, the “wilderness” is where we currently live.  In fact, from the day of our Lord’s ascension until this moment, the Church has existed in the “wilderness.”

In Revelation 12 John tells us (employing stunning symbols) that our current status is much like that of Old Testament Israel when they were delivered from Egypt.  Like them, we too are making our slow journey through the wilderness on our way to the land of promise, the New Jerusalem, the heavenly City of God.   It is in this time of wilderness living that we work, worship, serve, and witness.

But, as John will show us in Revelation 12, there is much more to this wilderness experience than meets the eye.   While there are many things going on as we move toward our eternal destiny, the most amazing of them all is that in this wilderness we celebrate Christmas!  However, our celebrating will express itself in a most unexpected and unusual way!