Every so often, something hits our planet from out of the clear blue—like  meteors or space junk. Most of us would be amazed if we knew how many spy satellites, weather satellites, research satellites, and broadcast satellites circle over our heads day by day, and of course, what goes up sooner or later must come down.

But space debris isn’t the only thing that can hit us from out of the clear blue.

• The factory where we work closes, or our company is sold and our friends are laid off—all of it out of the clear blue!
• Life is good, and then one morning in the shower we discover a lump where no lump should be—out of the blue.
• Retirement is perking along, much as we had hoped, and then one afternoon we check our portfolio online and watch in horror as the stock and bond markets both plummet simultaneously. That’s not supposed to happen, but it does, hitting us—out of the clear blue.
• A troubled young man cannot deal with the pain in his life so he goes into a school with handguns in order to make others hurt as much as he does. Too many times we have seen tragedy occur—out of the clear blue sky.

Many of life’s surprises, the things that hit us out of the blue, aren’t all that welcome. But Christmas is different. Christmas is the biggest surprise of all—and the happiest! Not because of the parties and decorations or the presents and cookies. Not because of the music and family time. Not even because of the wonder and laughter of little children.

No, Christmas is the biggest and happiest surprise of all because, totally out of the blue, love—from God—came down at Christmas. True love. Eternal love. Love that will not let you go. Love that does everything you need. Love came down at Christmas.

None of us deserves that love. In fact, every human being who has ever lived has rebelled against our gracious Creator, choosing to go our own way. We’ve thumbed our noses at him, objecting to his laws and thinking we can live more happily and fully by violating them. God’s judgment should roar down, engulfing the planet and every individual on it like a ton of bricks. If that judgment came, it should surprise no one, for God has made his will crystal clear in his Word; yet we have all disobeyed it.

But God has a surprise for you. He delivered it himself on the very first Christmas. He himself was that gift! Love came down at Christmas, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Out of the clear blue, while we were still sinners, Christ came for us. It’s a huge and happy surprise!

Peace. Joy. Hope. Gifts that come to us out of the blue, with God’s love that came down at Christmas. All of these gifts are undeserved. The Bible says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). Do you believe that? You better believe it! Love came down at Christmas. Peace came down at Christmas. Joy came down at Christmas. Hope came down at Christmas. So many gifts—and all of them wrapped up in Jesus, our Savior.

We are preparing to celebrate that gift again. In many congregations, the color for the season of Advent is blue. It is on the altar and pulpit and the pastor’s stole. That can remind us that out of the BLUE came God’s gift. Love came down at Christmas.