Real life is messy, isn’t it? Things don’t always go as planned. Failures in our performance cause us to doubt ourselves. When things don’t work out as we would like, we doubt God. Our years are filled with some highs, many lows, and lots of “average.”
Into this real, messy world . . . Jesus came.
All too often, our picture of the night when Jesus was born is not real enough. Because we are so familiar with the story, and because this story is often depicted for us with pristine porcelain figurines, we incorrectly assume Jesus was born without any “mess.” Because of the song Mary sings in Luke 1, we imagine her as magnificent . . . fearless and understanding all things. But the reality was probably much messier than that. Yes, Mary was visited by an angel to inform her that she would bear a child, and yes, that child was conceived in an immaculate way (the highs); but after that conception (at first) her fiancé wanted to leave her and she left her hometown to “lay low” at her cousin Elizabeth’s house – most likely to escape the whispers of ridicule in her own backyard (the lows). Additionally, though, she endured 9 months of pregnancy . . . 9 months of wondering, “did I hear that angel correctly?” . . . 9 months of “average.”
In Matthew 1, Joseph is called “noble.” Because of that, we may think Joseph was a rock for Mary throughout the process . . . but we know the reality was messier than that. That “rock” wanted to “roll” out of their betrothal initially not knowing what was going on. How could Joseph have fully grasped that the One who was in his fiancé’s womb was the maker of the moon?
We live in a messy life. A life with doubt, disease, and dispair. Jesus willingly and joyfully entered into it. Not a cleaned up “porcelain doll” type life, but REAL LIFE . . . messy life.
Today’s Christmas song reminds us of the “straw around the stable.” Andrew Peterson’s “Labor of Love” artistically articulates a picture of that first Christmas night that has not been airbrushed. As you listen to its words, connect the dots to your reality.
Mary was afraid . . . at times so are we.
Joseph did not understand . . . at times neither do we.
Yet, into Bethlehem (and into our backyard) Jesus has come to clean up our mess, dissuade our doubts, and free us from our fears. Knowing who He is and what He came to do, let us (like Mary) labor to really love Him while we live in this real world.
Labor of Love
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David’s town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother’s hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
On the streets of David’s town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
For the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
It was not a silent night
On the streets of David’s town
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