By David Faust
“It’s one of the best Christmas lightshows you’ll ever see,” friends said, describing an art museum’s annual holiday display. “The highlight,” they continued, “is the nativity scene at the end.” So last December, my wife Candy and I went with another couple to see the lightshow.
It took about 90 minutes to walk the museum’s park-like grounds where over one-and-a-half million lights glowed from trees, lampposts, bridges, and walkways. While we strolled along, holiday music filled the air, perfectly synchronized with the flashing lights.
Approaching the tour’s end, we saw up ahead a small rectangular building that obviously was designed to house a nativity scene; but to our surprise, the building was empty. For some reason (presumably deferring to public concerns about religious diversity), the show’s producers decided not to include Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.
We stared in disappointment at the vacant little building with a few colored lightbulbs strung around it—an anticlimactic ending to a spectacular holiday show. I don’t expect a secular museum to boldly preach the gospel, but I blurted out to my wife, “So, this is the lightshow’s big conclusion? An empty box?” The Bible doesn’t mandate observing Christmas as a winter festival, but what are all the lights, decorations, and music meant to celebrate, if not the incarnation of Christ?
The Worst Noel
Proverbs 14:4 says, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.” In ancient Israel’s agricultural society, people understood that proverb. A clean, empty manger meant there were no oxen to help plow the fields and harvest grain to feed the family. By contrast, a dirty manger looked untidy, but it meant important work was being done. Animals are messy, but they make a farm more productive. No manure, no money.
A similar principle applies to God’s spiritual flock. Ministry is messy because people have messy lives. The road to redemption passed through a dirty manger, not a cute decoration filled with soft, clean hay. Things aren’t neat and tidy when you are knee-deep in God’s redemptive work. No mess, no mission.
If the manger is empty, so is the holiday—and so are our hearts. If the manger is empty, bright lights, inspiring music, festive clothes, warm candles, tasty meals, and expensive gifts could never satisfy our souls and fill us with eternal hope. We wouldn’t sing “Joy to the World” if God didn’t come as a boy to the world.
The worst Noel would be a holiday filled with activities and festivities but devoid of faith.
Manger-Born Risen Lord
There is a miracle at each end of Christ’s life on earth, with the virgin birth and the resurrection forming glorious quotation marks around his incarnation. Scripture testifies, “He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).
That’s why “Away in a Manger” is more than just a cute song for kids. In Bethlehem the virgin mother took the infant Jesus, “wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). That manger-born Messiah died for our sins and rose from the dead, and from his empty tomb shines a glorious light that will never go out.
Personal Challenge:
During the Christmas holiday, take a few quiet moments to reflect devotionally on Luke chapter 2. Don’t let the season’s activities and festivities divert your attention from Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church, the Lord of our lives, and the source of our hope.
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