The Unexpected Beauty of the Christmas Story
Unexpected Beauty
Can there possibly be an unexpected beauty in the Christmas story from the perspective of a barn, a stable, the animals, and the good smells that come with all that? Living on a farm my entire life, I have never seen a barn bursting forth with beauty other than newborn animals. I've seen plenty of cobwebs, thick layers of dust, and piles of manure ~ a scene not usually found on high quality pieces of art.
When we think of Christmas the image on the left is not what comes to mind. Instead we tend to visualize the nice and neat nativities. However, cows standing in their own manure is the reality of the birth of the long awaited Messiah ~ our Savior.
While we want to make Christmas all neat and tidy, the original story started in a messy stable filled with some not so pleasant aromas. We spend most of November and up to December 25th trying to make Christmas perfect. We search high and low for the perfect gifts; we arrange and rearrange until the decorations are perfect; we cook and cook all the perfect Christmas goodies; we are so focused on the perfect Christmas that we let the real beauty of the imperfection slip through our fingers.
Sweet friends, God didn't enter this world in a "perfect" way. He did not put on any pomp or circumstance ~ He came to a stable. Joseph and Mary were alone except for the animals until a bunch of unruly shepherds showed up. There was not a doctor, a mid-wife, not even another woman present to deliver the Savior of the world. Yet, that very unorthodox birth was exactly what we needed. Why did God choose the stable, the animals, the filth?
He chose that because He loves us so much!
What? You see, if God came to earth any other way, none of us could relate. Entering the world the way He did, so very, very humbly and in such an unconventional manner, paved the way for everyone to feel like they could connect with the Creator of the universe. Let's face it, life on earth is a mess and has been since the fall of Adam and Eve.
God knew since the beginning that we would continually make decisions that would bring about messy, ugly, smelly. In His infinite wisdom, He also knew that if He came to earth in the glory He so rightly deserved we would feel so inadequate that we would not choose Him to be our rescuer from our self-inflicted pain. So what does our Heavenly Father do? He sends His precious Son to earth as a human baby. What humility!
I have overlooked that characteristic of God - His humility. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, about in His entrance into this world that was even remotely close to being worthy of the Creator of the universe. Not only that, God knew His Son would be rejected; God knew He would be harassed by the religious leaders; God knew He would be spit on; God knew His Son would hang on a cross with sinners like you and me. God knew all this even before He sent Jesus into the world.
And yet, He did it anyway
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
John 3:16-17
My precious friends, God did not come to this world to judge us, to throw in our faces how perfect He is and how imperfect we are, to frown upon every wrong move we make. He came to love us to the point that we choose to stop disobeying Him and live a life that exalts His Holy Name! You see, we are good enough just as we are ~ no matter our messy, ugly lives ~ we can come to the filthy manger and find forgiveness. How beautiful is that - a forgiveness that erases all the chaos, all the filth, all the mistakes and a promise to a life eternal with a God Who loved us to the point that He humbled Himself and came to a disgusting stable to save you and me.
This is the unexpected beauty of the Christmas story. God Most High entered this world so that each and everyone of us, no matter our history, could humble ourselves and live in His incomprehensible love!
May we stop making Christmas this
<----
And embrace the humbling beauty of this
---->
Love this Michele! A wonderful reminder of what it’s truly about!
I need this reminder!