A Manger, My King, and Me

forgivenLike you, every year my wife and I say we’re going to “do Christmas right this time.” And we are trying. It’s His birthday that’s coming up, after all, if not in fact, then at least in observance.

Now, when I celebrate a friend’s birthday, I keep the focus on him, take pleasure in giving him something, and enjoy taking time to celebrate his life. That’s only reasonable. What’s not reasonable is to rush around in mind-scattered preparation for his party, all the while ignoring him. And if I’d never do that to an earthly friend, then for sure I can’t do that to a King. So all our good intentions are intact, and we’re going to put some real effort into celebrating His birth in a way that honors Him. A few points I’ll try to remember:

1. “Stress on Earth” was not the angelic message.
It’s downright thoughtless, if not arrogant, to get all worked up over the fact there are parties to attend, gifts to choose and details to note. Rather than stress me out, the fact anybody wants my company should humble me into peaceful gratitude for an abundance of priceless friends and family. It’s an insult to turn the privilege of loving relationships and the tiny seasonal sacrifices that come with them into an anxiety attack, as if Christmas chores are the stuff martyrs are made of! So I’ll try doing it right this year by choosing a peaceful mind in the midst of joyful chaos. That will be my Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum; not very impressive, but, I hope, meaningful to Him.

2.  It began when God said “I’ll do this” to a humble woman, and she responded, “Be it according to Thy word.”
God interrupted Mary’s life with purposes she’d never have imagined. I love that, and in the tiniest way can relate to it as well. Because when God interrupted my life, re-naming me from Loser to Victor, He had a plan greater than my dreams, more audacious than I’d dare hope for. That deserves serious reflection now of all seasons, as we remember what He’s called us to, what responsibilities He’s placed under us, and the unseen ramifications of His taking over our lives, ramifications Mary couldn’t have fully understood when she said “Yes.” What stormy waters He’ll call us to walk on with Him, and what delightful, crazily wonderful adventures we’ll enjoy! We can’t predict it, but we can say as Mary did, “Behold the servant of the Lord. Be it according to Thy word.” I want to remember to say that many times this month, thinking it over as I speak it, and committing to it more than ever.

3.  It happened in a manger, the unlikeliest of beginnings under the worst circumstances.
I was an absolute dictator about my wife’s delivery – everything in the facility had to be perfect and then some. And even then, in that pristine and safe environment, I was in awe of all she had to go through to make it happen. So the notion of an exhausted woman traveling at the end of her pregnancy, being refused admission to normal quarters, then laboring among the stench of animals, is sickening. But there it is. Light came into the dark under conditions so hopeless you’d think it would all come to nothing, and that’s a pattern I can take to heart. God intervenes, impregnates, facilitates, nurtures and causes His work to thrive under the unlikeliest of beginnings, the worst of circumstances. Paul must have had something like that in mind when he wrote, “But God commended His love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Thinking on my early days, I cringe at my bleak starts, and how this broken and angry kid was surely the Least Likely. Then I grin at how, against all odds, it’s playing out so differently than its beginning would suggest. In that sense I follow the King born in poverty to a mother impregnated while unwed, surrounded by question marks, not likely to succeed except in the eyes of informed shepherds and wise gift bearers. His beginning didn’t represent His whole story, nor does mine. Or yours. Past dark spots, whether the poverty of a stable, the pain of abuse, or the consequences or wrong choices, are but elements of a broader plan, something the Planner sees and the Planned participate in by faith, looking for the brightness of a star to follow and trusting it will come. And in the end, the Interrupter gets credit for a mind-blowing change in script proving, yet again that “He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Great news, then, this story of a manger, my King and me. And great time of year to absorb it. Our peaceful joy, expressed while doing all the running around December calls for, is a gift we can both receive and extend. So bring it all on, the shopping, the chaos and the carols. And hopefully we’ll sing all the verses because, ya know, sometimes the real gems are in the final lines:

 “Mild, He lays His glory by,

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King.”

Comments

Brenda | Dec 10, 2013

Great article Joe! Thank you for reminding us what Christmas really is and yes it is a fact that we all need to do it right.

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