Thanksgiving has blasted by and we are speeding toward December 25, Christmas Day. I am hoping to slow our place soon so that I can absorb some of what Christmas is all about – the great gift of Jesus to a lost and dying world. Every Christmas I return to one of my favorite authors who always helps put the frantic pace of Christmas back into perspective. The author is Philip Yancey and the book I go back to is The Jesus I Never Knew. I want to share some of his thoughts and some of my own in an effort to help you recalibrate this season if you, like me, need some help.
Yancey reflects on this season when he says, “Sorting through the stack of cards that arrived at our house last Christmas, I note that all kinds of symbols have edged their way into the celebration. Overwhelmingly, the landscape scenes render New England towns buries in snow, usually with the added touch of a horse-drawn sleigh. On other cards, animals frolic: not only reindeer but also chipmunks, raccoons, cardinals, and cute gray mice…The explicitly religious cards (a distinct minority) focus on the holy family, and you can tell at a glance these folks are different. They seem unruffled and serene. Bright gold halos, like crowns from another world, hover just above their heads. Inside, the cards stress sunny words like love, goodwill, cheer, happiness and warmth. It is a fine thing, I suppose, that we honor a sacred holiday with homey sentiments. And yet when I turn to the gospel accounts of the first Christmas, I hear a very different tone and sense mainly disruption at work” (Yancey, p.29).
I am struck with how right he is. If we were to ask Mary and Joseph about the birth of Jesus, they would probably not remember it as serene, soft, and warm at all. I just reviewed our Christmas card batch so far this year. Most say nothing about Jesus. Many will have a very photogenic family on the front and a sweet sentiment for the holidays. The ones that do picture Jesus are neat and tidy and cute…one with the baby Jesus in a clean, warm cradle with a star shining serenely in the sky and a small lamb lying next to him. I’m sure that before the 25th we will receive cards with angels surrounding the Christ child in adoration and with three richly dressed wise men bowing at his feet.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the cards and I love our friends who send them. Ultimately, we will all be surrounded by the peace and tranquility depicted on these cards and hopefully that peace rests in our hearts now because of Jesus. But, the point is that the first Christmas probably did not have that ambiance at all. To forget or clean up the Biblical account, in one sense, dulls our recognition of the cost of our salvation from beginning to end. We think of Christ’s suffering at Easter, but his birth and early years were no picnic either.
“Christmas art depicts Jesus’ family as icons stamped in gold foil, with a calm Mary receiving the tidings of the Annunciation as a kind of benediction. But that is not at all how Luke tells the story. Mary was “greatly troubled” and “afraid” at the angel’s appearance, and when the angel pronounced the sublime words about the Son of the Most High whose kingdom will never end, Mary had something far more mundane in mind: ‘But I’m a virgin!’ Matthew tells of Joseph magnanimously agreeing to divorce Mary in private rather than press charges (for adultery), until an angel shows up to correct his perception of betrayal” (Yancey, p.30-31).
To forget how human Mary and Joseph were somehow erodes some of the miracle from Christmas and also lets us forget how reluctant most of God’s heroes have been from the beginning. Moses begged God to send anyone but him to Egypt to free the Hebrews. Jeremiah argued that he was much too young for the job. Gideon claimed that he was a nobody and that no one who even think about following him into battle. Mary and Joseph were not born into powerful families. They were not great leaders in their community. He was a handyman and she was a teenager in a small, backwater town that we would probably have never heard of if Jesus had not grown up there.
From the outset, God’s entrance into the world as a human child created fear, confusion, doubt, gossip, accusations, feelings of betrayal, and estrangement as well as feelings of wonder and hope. It’s not so different today when he intrudes. Think of Muslims today in the Middle East who are experiencing the Man in White coming to them in dreams and visions and then discovering that he is Jesus whom they have been persecuting. Suddenly, their world is turned upside down. The faith that they thought was sure is rocked to its very foundations. Who will they tell? Who will believe them? Perhaps, their very lives are on the line because Jesus has come to them. What will their family say and what about the religious officials?
Mary had to feel much of that. Her fiancé’s first response was that she had been unfaithful. Divorce was the proscribed approach or even stoning if he were to insist on the letter of the Law. Even if he had no doubts about his angelic visit vindicating Mary, many would have believed that they, as an engaged couple, had jumped the gun and made up a preposterous story about an angel and an impregnated virgin. Nothing is said about their immediate families or about a wedding. Most likely it was a hurried, private affair meant in some way to cover up the inexplicable. Undoubtedly, Mary’s girlish dreams of a wonderful Jewish wedding filled with family, dancing, and blessings went unfulfilled. Joseph’s dream of his wedding night with the girl he loved, when their marriage would be consummated, vanished as well. So, let’s add disappointment to the feelings they associated with the upcoming birth of the King of Glory.
The greatest gifts often come with a huge price tag. The gift of Christmas came with a huge price tag not only for the Father, but also for those who God would use to bring his Son into the world and care for him in the days to come. When I reflect on the Lord’s sacrifice and the sacrifices of those God used, I am overwhelmed with a sense of thankfulness – which is the heart of Christmas. Let’s slow down at least enough to be thankful for the amazing gift available to all who will believe. More thoughts coming. Blessings today in Him.
