"Let There Be Peace On Earth"

“Let it begin with me.” During Thanksgiving, I watched a Muppet Christmas special with my children. The Muppets were preparing for their Holiday show when they learned their landlord was going to evict them for nonpayment and they would lose the Muppet Theater. They devised a plan to earn enough money to payoff their landlord in time to save the Theater. Their show was a success, and they raised enough money, but on his way to the bank, Fozzy Bear got sidetracked and lost the bag of money. The Muppet Theater will soon be lost, Kermit is heart-broken, full of despair and angrily cries out, “I wish I’d never been born.”

An angel appears and grants his wish. He then reverses time and begins to show Kermit each of the Muppets’ lives without him…Fozzy Bear’s a pickpocket, Ms. Piggy’s a fuzzy, Gonzo’s a street musician, and the Muppet theater was a bar.

On the brink of losing the Muppet Theater, Kermit felt like a complete failure, as if his life had had no meaning, as if he had not made a difference, but then he saw first-hand the impact he had on the lives of his friends, regardless of whether he saved the Muppet Theater or not.

“Let it begin with me.” Don’t ever underestimate the impact you can have on God’s kingdom. Don’t ever believe that it can’t start with you. Don’t ever think, “What difference can I make.”

There is a special feeling that automatically comes with this time of year, and it started with one, tiny infant, born in a stinky barn, who was initially laid in a manger. Thank God he didn’t think, “What difference can I make?” Thank God, when he found himself in the desert, he picked up the tools of construction and built a highway that led him home, and thank God, he believed in something bigger than himself. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with…