On one of those visits they noticed a young couple pull up on a motorbike. They were both wearing “punk” clothes and hair, and she had her face covered in black and white paint.

Mouw watched as they “swaggered” through the cathedral. He wondered why they were even there because they seemed to sneer dismissively at the place of worship.

But something happened.

As the young woman came to a statue of Mary with arms outstretched, she stopped. After a few moments of looking into Mary’s eyes, which seemed to be looking back at her with concern and compassion, she lurched forward to her knees, put her face in Mary’s arms, and started to sob uncontrollably.

After a few minutes she got up. And the couple left quietly.

Mouw doesn’t know what happened. But he knows something did.

That’s why I think visual representations of the nativity story and biblical characters can be powerful. We never know when or where God will use what people see to give them greater vision. This includes nativity scenes, putting up angels or stars, and pictures of mangers with the Child of hope.

In Luke 2:11 the angel proclaims: “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

This December, make the symbols of your faith visible. It can be a powerful reminder to someone that when the angel said a Saviour has been born “to you,” he really did mean “to YOU.”

We never know when or where God will use what people see to give them greater vision.

By Matthew Ruttan