December 2011

“Where the Divine Hits the Dirt”

We go to great lengths to pretty up Christmas, don't we? Don't get me wrong. Who doesn't like seeing the church with poinsettias and candles and the Advent wreath in full glow? We want the place where we live to be neat and tidy, as well, for the celebration with everything in its proper place. We like our Christmases beautiful.

We like our nativity scenes that way, too - impressive, majestic, and sanitary; with candy-like statuettes and a meticulously designed stable complete with, as one person put it: “an ecstatic ass, a contrite ox, and angels fluttering their wings on the roof.“ And the manger - the focal piece - ornately painted with a rosy-cheeked baby nestled in a fluffy bed of straw.

Pretty Christmases are not a bad thing, but I suspect they are not quite the real thing, either. The manger was an important sign in Luke's account of Jesus' birth. A manger is used as a feeding trough for animals and a crib in animal husbandry. It was not an evergreen-scented, pastel-hued place. It was dirty, dull, undignified, and perhaps emanated the odor of manure. The manger is where the Divine hits the dirt, so to speak.

Jesus was not above it all, but came into this world where sin has people producing filth of all kinds and wallowing in it. He came into this mess and muddle of real life to clean us up. “He was given the name 'Jesus' because He would save His people from their sin.“ Jesus was born to take the filthy rags of our so-called righteousness and replace them with His own perfect robe of righteousness. That would happen at a cross upon which He would die thirty-three years later to be followed by His resurrection to give us new and eternal life.

Are you living in loneliness? Are you dealing with despair? Are you struggling with worry, anxiety, and fear? Do you get frustrated by all the efforts to make Christmas look pretty only to feel like something is still missing? Is your life not as neat and tidy and clean as you would like it to be? Would you say, perhaps, that it stinks, like manure in a stable?

The manger is the sign for us in the angelic instructions for finding and seeing the Savior of the world - “a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.“ If we miss the earthy-ness, the approachableness, the flesh-ness of our God, we might just miss the real thing of Christmas - the Savior who was born and died and was raised again for our salvation; the Savior who fulfills God's promises to be with us always, to care for us; the Savior who is the incarnation of God's love for us no matter how dirty and filthy we have been or will be.

Maybe that is why we go to such great lengths to pretty up Christmas. Our Savior's birth has revealed something to us about our God. Finding Jesus in a manger can be a reminder to us that He came to make our home inside clean and spotless and peace-filled and shining brightly with the light of His love.

A Blessed Christmas and New Year!

Pastor John