Oh, the beautifully staged family photo on the glossy Christmas card and its message of joyful glad tidings of a year of success and family unity—it either uplifts you because you know and love the sender or makes you suspicious of AI involvement in both the image and the text.
It is funny how we have turned Christmas into something glossy and perfect. We need the ideal decorations with twinkly lights, the best symmetrical, decorated tree, and presents that impress friends and family. We begin shortly after Remembrance Day and extend the festivities through early January. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Ironically, if we rewind the film to that first Christmas, it was far from idyllic and involved a few misfits who would be romantically depicted in a scene on mantels all over the world thousands of years later: that beautiful nativity.
But was it beautiful?
THE SETTING:
A stable. Have you been in a stable? It is not very sterile, and those animals are not wearing Axe body spray. Eau de Poop is the permeating scent in the enclosed space. Add to that the messiness of childbirth. It ain’t pretty. Not to mention how uncomfortable it must have been for poor Mary to give birth with hay sticking into her back and Joseph panicking because he was not trained for the labour and delivery ward.
THE CHARACTERS:
Mary and Joseph:
These two, betrothed but never intimate, were young, poor, and skirting social scandal. If people heard about this “virgin birth”…it would not be good. Mary had been told she was carrying the Son of God—no pressure, Mary. An angel had visited Joseph to assure him that his steady girlfriend had not cheated on him but was pregnant. When an angelic being tells you to stick with your betrothed, you saddle up your donkey and take her with you to Bethlehem. Neither of them had ever dreamed that this would be how their lives together would begin.
Shepherds:
The first visitors to adore their baby boy came from the lowest social stratum. They left their sheep for a few minutes to chase down a location given to them by angels (ancient GPS: God’s Positioning System). Their arrival likely did not improve the barn’s fetid atmosphere, and their uncleanliness might have made the new mother a bit nervous about the health of her newborn. New mother me would have wondered, “Who invited them?”
THE PLOT:
This child was the Messiah prophesied about hundreds of years before. He was the coming king! Yet, His birth was the most humble, lowly event. The only fanfare came from angels in the heavens, witnessed by a bunch of shepherds. Had they appeared to nobility, or spiritual or political leaders, the story might have evolved much differently. (Those wise men? They didn’t show up until later. The nativity scene has that one wrong.) But, no. God deliberately chose a messy, unconventional beginning rather than a majestic one.
THE VILLAIN:
From his palace in Jerusalem, King Herod the Great felt threatened by this new “King of the Jews,” despite His tender age, and plotted to kill Him. He tried to solicit the aid of the magi, but God had other plans to protect His Son.
THE LIFE APPLICATION:
God is in the messy! He loves and uses the misfits! If your Christmas is going to be anything but the perfect, glossy Christmas card image, God will show up there. He oversaw His only Son’s human birth in a smelly barn. He’s not afraid of the unconventional or imperfect.
WHEN THE LIFE APPLICATION DOESN’T APPLY TO YOU:
If Christmas is still a very special time of year, celebrated with friends and family, you might want to keep an eye out for the “misfits” in your community. Do you know anyone who might be lonely, struggling, or new to your street? Could you invite someone into your holiday circle?
Let’s make the Christmas season special for everyone.
Father, let us not make Christmas a glossy, perfect picture but one of humility and love. When You sent your Son to become one of us, He didn’t come as a king or part of the nobility. Thank You for keeping things real.
If you haven’t joined my mailing list, I encourage you to sign up below. I will send my TUESDAY TICKLE and FRIDAY FUNNY posts from Instagram directly to your inbox and keep you up to date with my writing initiatives.
I also have a FREE gift for you when you sign up! Your welcome email will include a link to the PDF file of my e-book, Tickle Me with a Crowbar! It’s a 30-day illustrated joke book and devotional just for you.
Add your email and click below to join my mailing list.
Both books in my Tickle Me with a Crowbar! series are available on Amazon in Kindle or paperback formats or as E-books at Kobo.com! Order yours today to get two months of jokes and Christian encouragement. They make great gifts for special occasions, too!
Val's Stage 
Gre
LikeLike