By Jeff Walling
One of the delights of the Christmas season is receiving cards from friends across the country. My wife displays the prettiest ones and leaves the rest in a basket on our kitchen table so we can cruise the photos and say, “Oh! Look how BIG he”s gotten!” about our newest nephew or my largest brother-in-law.
Many have the classic nativity scenes, with adoring shepherds, a smiling Mary, and a glowing baby Jesus. It is these that I used to love the most until I came across an uncomfortable truth: Those Christmas cards are completely unbiblical. And what”s more, they tell the wrong story.
I recently heard a speaker say that if your kids find Christianity boring and uninteresting, you must be telling them the wrong story. The story of Jesus Christ is anything but boring. He was a polarizing and powerful figure in his day and for centuries following. His words were radical and challenging to the status quo. He was a friend of the marginalized masses. He stood on the outside of the establishment and threw stones of truth that broke down walls of prejudice and pride. In short, he was a radical mess maker.
That should come as no surprise to those who have heard the story of his birth . . . when it is told the way it really happened.
A MESS FOR MARY AND JOSEPH
Matthew lets us in on the first part of that story. “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:18, 19, emphasis mine).
Jesus started making a mess before he was even born! His poor mother, who didn”t apply for the job of mother of God, had to face Joseph with the news that she was a different virgin than he had bargained for. How did she explain that this whole thing was God”s fault? You talk about a tough story to sell!
And Joseph”s response tells us what he thought: I need a lawyer. Funny, I”ve never seen a Christmas card of Joseph sitting down with a divorce lawyer drawing up papers to get rid of the mother of Christ. It took an angel to convince him to stick with her.
Can”t you hear the neighbors” tongues wagging? And those whispers wouldn”t quit for years””small towns have long memories. I wonder if that”s why he was referred to as “Mary”s son” in Mark 6:3 when he was rejected at Nazareth. What a mess!
AN EMBARRASSING BIRTH
But this story is just getting going. Luke picks up the narrative to let us know that the King of the world would not be born in a palace.
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6, 7, emphasis mine).
This scene is so familiar that the scandal and embarrassment has been airbrushed away through centuries of artistic Christmas cards that beautify the manger till it glows. And Mary and Joseph are always smiling in those cards. Really!
What mother in her right mind would want to give birth in a barn? What self-respecting father would allow his wife to face that? This was no walk in the park. After a long journey Joseph did his best to find suitable lodgings, but the simple truth was they ended up homeless.
“Hey, Honey! Great news! This guy”s gonna let us sleep with the animals. Why I bet our newborn will just fit in this donkey”s food trough.” And those animals didn”t just walk off a Disney movie, with big and sweet smiles like you see on the Christmas cards. Go out and sniff the next barn you come to. No amount of baby powder would cover that smell.
What a mess! What an embarrassment! The Lord of Heaven and earth is about to make the most important entrance onto this planet in its history and he doesn”t have reservations?
TOUCHING THE NEEDY AND DEPRAVED
But wait . . . there”s more! A jealous king wants to kill Jesus so badly that he slaughters thousands of babies trying to get him. I wonder what Christmas was like at some of those homes. “Genocide, child abuse, and serial killing: Wishing you a Merry Christmas!”
What in the world is God up to here? Could it be he was making sure from the start that the story of Jesus would touch the most needy and depraved places in our world? From his very birth Jesus is surrounded by poverty, scandal, and violence. Here is a homeless kid with a questionable background who causes his folks more grief in his first three years than most of us cause in a lifetime.
Can you put that on a Christmas card? We better. That”s the story the way God told it, ensuring that no one would ever say, “I”m not good enough for him.” Jesus was the Savior of the lonely and needy. Yes, he was a mess. Maybe that”s why they called him the Messiah.
TELL ABOUT THE MESS!
And maybe, just maybe, if we were willing to tell the world about his messy beginning just like it happened, kids might sit up and pay attention to the story.
Maybe if we took the halos off the cards and let the smells and tears and frustration show, more folks would see Christmas as a time to celebrate the One who came in a mess to deal with all our messes.
Maybe, just maybe, if we were to let the incarnation really become flesh, folks who don”t feel fit to enter our buildings would think differently.
So try it out this week. The next time someone gives you a holiday greeting, just respond with, “Messy Christmas to you, too!”
Jeff Walling is senior minister with Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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