In
the name of family or tradition, we do some of the most irritating, tiring,
counterproductive things without ever thinking about them. Rushing from house
to house for gift opening, trying to wedge in a visit to church, eating huge
meals at our house, the parents’ house and then at the in-laws. The adults are
all tired and irritable and the kids more than cranky. Does your family take a
family portrait each Christmas? We try. It sounds like a good idea, what with
everyone there and dressed up. But in the rush of getting everything else we
have on our agendas done, sometimes things just don’t work out. It is like herding
cats. Most families cram in too much to do and too little time in which to do
it.
What
is often designed to be fun ends up
being a huge pain. Even in the
church, often what is designed to be a blessing goes awry and ends up being a
curse. I love the old story of the frustrated choir director who was preparing
for the Christmas Cantata and dealing with veriy spotty attendance by the
choir. At the final practice, in an attempt to reprimand the wayward choir
members, he took a moment before the final practice to acknowledge the accompanist,
who had been to every practice. She stood and thanked the choir director and
then said, “I thought it was the least I could do since I can’t make to the
performance.”
Let’s
take a look at the first Christmas as recorded by Luke.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the
first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And
everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of
Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he
belonged to the house and line of David. He went there
to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a
child. 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.
And there were shepherds living out in
the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the
Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and
gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and
see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So
they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the
manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who
heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary
treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:1-20)
I
have heard that story all my life. And, like most, I have an unrealistic view
of it that has been influenced by movies, paintings, Christmas cards and more.
I have concluded that my view of this story is unrealistic. Let’s take a look
at this story with fresh eyes and a little more reality.
Mary
and Joseph were living through a difficult time and things went from bad to worse.
First of all they had to deal with this wild story that she was pregnant but
she was still a virgin. I am sure that went over real big in the old home
village. There is little doubt that their families were angry and ashamed. Mary
had to put up with the gossip and the looks people gave her. She decided to get
out of town and go visit relatives. Joseph had to put up with the men of the
village making crude jokes about his wife to be and the guys making fun of him
for believing her story. No doubt they were social outcasts and the butt of
lots of jokes. Life must have been pretty miserable.
And
then the government got involved. Life never gets easier when the government
gets in the mix. Caesar decides he wants everyone counted to make sure all of
the possible taxes were being collected. For us the census means that we have
to deal with a stranger showing up at the door and being asked a few irritating,
invasive questions. It was not that simple and easy for them. They had to
travel to the town that their ancestors were from to be registered. Where would
that be for you? In my case I would have to head to Robertson County, Kentucky,
and try to find some lodging in Mt. Olivet. Mt. Olivet is about the same size
as Bethlehem was then. Last time I visited there were no hotels or motels.
There wasn’t even a gas station.
Things
are not going real well and then on top of everything else, Mary and Joseph
have to travel to Bethlehem. The distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is about
70 miles as the crow flies, but the winding mountain trails that Joseph and
Mary had to travel made the trip about 90 miles, and the climb was about 1,300
feet up hill. At walking pace it would take them more than a week to cover that
distance and height. Now there’s a great trip if you are on the verge of having
a baby. I’ll bet Mary was horribly uncomfortable.
After
over a week on the road they finally got to their destination, hungry, tired,
thirsty, sore, sunburned, and bloated beyond belief. And that was Joseph. I’ll
bet Mary didn’t feel all that good either. The town was packed with tourists
and they couldn’t find a room. I can’t believe Joseph didn’t call
1-800-Go-Judea and make some hotel reservations. He was checking at the front
desk of every hotel, motel and bed and breakfast in town and getting the big
NO. It must have been terribly frustrating for both of them when he went back
to the donkey and to report his lack of success. It is a wonder this marriage
hung together.
Finally
Joseph returned to the donkey overjoyed with the great news that they have
permission from the innkeeper to sleep in his barn. If I had been in Mary’s
shoes I would have said, “THE BARN!! You want me to sleep in a barn. I am about
to drop a kid here and want me to try to sleep on straw with a bunch of animals?”
Don’t you just know that both of them were thinking, “Is this any way to spend Christmas?”
And
then the baby decides to show up. They are both appalled and thrilled. There is
nothing like a baby to make things better – NOT. Babies are wonderful but they
do not make life easier. Then the shepherds show up. Of course, they had not
planned on uninvited company. And then there was the Bris to plan, the people
to invite, and a Rabbi to line up for the ceremony.
Generally
speaking it seems that Mary and Joseph didn’t have much say in how the first
Christmas came to be. But as we study the prophecy surrounding the birth of the
Messiah we can see that God’s plan was at work.
Mary
and Joseph seemed to have little choice, but when it comes to Christmas we
really do have choices to make. I want to strongly encourage you to relax and
enjoy the peace, wonder, joy and power of this season. Don’t let yourself get
so busy that you miss the center of it all. Don’t let others set your agenda and
your schedule and bully you out of being in the presence of God during this
time of year that we celebrate God Himself coming to be with us.
Don’t
do Christmas in such a way that you catch yourself thinking, “Is this any way to spend Christmas?”
Copyright
© 2014, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved
Bill
McConnell is Senior Minister at Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis,
Tennessee and is a Church Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership
Coach. He is a frequent speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest
book on church transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is
available at Westbow
Press. He
can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com.
Connect with him on Facebook @ William
T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon
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