Episode 223: Jesus Is Here!
The Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen
“He’s Still Here” (Luke 2:1–20) opens with the hard machinery of empire: a decree, a registry, a forced journey—power issuing demands from “an office far away,” without regard for tired bodies, anxious hearts, or where a young couple will sleep.
The sermon names how that pressure still shows up today—systems that count, sort, track, and extract; a world that keeps calendars full while leaving hearts empty.
Against that backdrop, the Gospel arrives as a startling reversal: God comes not with force, but with flesh—crossing the distance between holy and human, power and powerlessness, in a borrowed “no-place-for-them” room.
The message builds toward a defiant hope that outlives every empire: Rome is gone—yet Jesus remains present, strong enough to hold mercy against fear, and love against the weight of the world.