A Messy Christmas

Have you ever considered how messy that first Christmas would have been when Jesus was born? As we come upon the scene in Luke chapter two, we find that the birth of Christ has been announced to shepherds who are in the fields with their flocks by night. We like to clean up the story and have very nice, neat nativity scenes. But think with me about shepherds who are living in the open with their flocks in the fields in that hot, dry, dusty Middle Eastern climate. These would not have been cleaned up, people. They would have been probably a little rough around the edges, smelling of animals, sweaty, not often having access to a bathing facility. And these are the people whom the angels send to see the newborn king. I don't know who you picture holding a newborn baby in all of its innocence, but sweaty, dirty shepherd smelling of sheep is not what comes to mind for me. Then we have the manger scene, the stable where Jesus was born. We don't know a lot about this building, but what we do know is it wouldn't have had running water or a thermostat on the wall to set the temperature just right. It didn't have nice electrical lighting or a baby heart rate monitor. It was a very crude and elementary place for a baby to be born. I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to witness the birth of a baby. I've been there for the birth of my four kids. And while we may sing Silent Night about Jesus's birth, I can tell you the birth of a child is anything but a silent night. It tends to be loud and chaotic and there's crying and that's just from the parents. Then the baby is born and there's more noise and activity and crying and there's messes that come with that. And even as I share some of this, there might be a part of you that feels like I don't really like to think about that. I like this very nice, cleaned up, sanitized Christmas. And yet the truth is that when Jesus was born, it would have been very human, very, very messy. And it occurs to me that God didn't have to come this way, though, when he wanted to communicate a message of hope and love to our world. He had any number of methods at his disposal. He had used angels throughout the Bible, angels who didn't have to really enter into the world. They could be from heaven, deliver their message, and return to heaven and not really be in this world with us. God had used prophets who would seemingly come out of nowhere, share a message, and soon after disappear. God had even spoken through donkeys and animals to deliver his messages. But when it came to this message of hope and freedom, he didn't use any of those. He came in the most human way possible, in a very messy sort of way. I think this is something that can give you. And I hope that this Christmas, because there is a part of our story that is often very messy, particularly for all of us who are involved in our own recovery journey, or we're maybe on that journey with a loved one who's trying to come out of some difficult behaviors in their life. There are parts of that story that, let's be honest, are very messy. And there can be a temptation for us to feel like those messes in our lives are things that we need to hide or minimize and ignore. We can develop a very cleaned up, sanitized, holy version of our God. And we feel like in order to be with him, we need to be the same. We need to offer him a cleaned up, sanitized, holy version. And until then, we better hide away all of these messy parts. But the truth is, the Christmas story shows us a God that is present with us in our mess. I mean, the messiness of the way he was born is only a small foreshadowing of the messiness in how he would die, how he would give his life for you and I walking those dirty streets of Jerusalem with angry soldiers that would crucify him in the bloodiest of ways. But again, a message from God saying, I am with you in your humanity. I am with you in your mess. And so this Christmas, I want to encourage you to consider a God that meets you in the middle of your stuff. And to see that our greatest hope to come out of our messes is to see that God is present with us in our messes right now. He's not afraid to meet us there. He's not unwilling to come into those places and lead us into something greater and better. A life of hope and freedom and joy. And so this Christmas, when you hear the word Emmanuel, God with us, I hope you will consider that that word means God with us in the middle of our messes. A God who meets us, a God who leads us, a God who is with us. I want to wish you a merry Christmas from all of us at pure desire. And I pray that today and this season is a blessed time for you and your loved ones to follow that kind of God. Sa.