His mom is a virgin — try explaining that — and her pregnancy a public disgrace. Joseph is sticking with her, but I’m sure they were the brunt of lots of gossip, whispering, and possibly even jokes. It was a nasty situation.
And then it was time for a census by the government. If you think you hate tax time and the way government interferes in your life, picture having to walk or ride 97 miles on a donkey in order to register yourself with the government. Talk about annoying! I’ve seen pregnant women who are almost at full term and they have plenty to complain about but none of them have had to ride 97 miles on a donkey. Just sayin.
So they get to Bethlehem and are in the middle of crowds of people, all of them probably crabby. And they try to find a place to stay and there’s no rooms left. Priceline didn’t exist back then so they had to take their chances. The innkeeper feels sorry for them and offers them his stable.
I bet Mary was saying, “Seriously? A smelly stable? Animals? A manger?”
So my question is this? Why do we have expectations that Christmas be perfect? The first Christmas certainly wasn’t. Nothing was perfect about it…. except for the baby.
The baby was perfect and He still is. And if I’ve learned anything this year, I’ve learned that Jesus lives in the messiest of situations.
Let’s embrace him — and embrace the messy. Because that’s where Jesus shows up most.
1 comment:
Here is my favorite part of my church's mission statement: Embrace Messiness: Guided by the word, embracing both spiritual truth and divine grace, as we share life's faith journey in all its messiness and all its glory, together.
As an adoptive parent, my life is very messy. So glad God is in the middle of it!
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