Let's start with Mary. I've often contemplated what a huge responsibility she was taking on when she said "Let it be done to me as you have said." What was it that God saw in her, in her heart, that made Him choose her out of the hundreds of other girls her age? What was it like to have the spirit of God overshadow her? And why in blue blazes would she choose to travel on the back of a donkey (if in fact she did) when she was so very pregnant? I mean pregnancy comes with a lot of discomfort and now she's sitting on the back of this animal being jerked around for most of the day. What was it like to feel baby Jesus move around in her womb? What was it like to watch her stomach grow with each passing day, to know the fruit she carried there was the Great I Am? Did God spare her of great labor pains or did she endure a hard labor giving birth to the Suffering Servant? Did Mary ever get tired doing midnight feedings; possibly a bit impatient at a sleepy, suckling baby? What was it like to gently rock him to sleep? What did it feel to have his little fingers - the very hands that would heal nations - wrap around her's? How did it feel to hold the Savior of the universe in her arms? What did she see when she gazed into His precious eyes? One of my most precious memories was getting to hold a little 2 pound baby when I was a volunteer in a NICU, and as I stared into his beautiful blue eyes I felt like I was staring straight into heaven; I'm sure it was so much more for her as she gazed into his eyes. What was it like to hear him laugh for the first time? Did great joy spring up within her at the sound? Or when he smiled at her, did she have her heart burst with love?
And that first cry must have been incredible. The Word - the Living Word - piercing the darkness, crying out for all humanity. Receiving breath for the first time, having just been birthed in blood and water (see the significance there?), and his first act was to cry. Reminds me of one of the most touching and profound verses in all the Bible - "Jesus wept." Something so ordinary to every human being and yet, in Christ, it is transformed into something radically new. Did Mary and Joseph weep with delight at that cry? Did they understand all that was going on beneath the surface?
How did Mary reconcile in her mind that this was her child and yet her Savior? How did that change how she approached being a mother to Jesus? I mean she on a daily basis got to kiss the face of God...what a beautiful and intimate picture of the realness and tenderness of Almighty God. I would like to give God a kiss some days, or even just simply a hug.
And yet the sacrifice...the ridicule...the shame she endured to nurture and give life and to cherish that life went beyond anything that I think most of us would want. In her heart she must have known and held onto the fact that God cherished her, would protect her, and guard her from danger - even those she was not aware of. Remember how the angel woke Joseph with a dream? And all she had to do was simply, radically trust God. Trusting God will often lead us into some scary situations but we are not without hope because God's hand of protection will be around us. Just as it was around Mary all those many years ago - a simple Jewish girl, poor and considered worthless and yet God called her to be the mother of our Savior. Our worthiness has NEVER been a characteristic when it comes to God and being in His Kingdom - it is by grace alone.
I think of what chaos was going on at that time, what sense of hopelessness I'm sure many people felt. Kind of like today. Chaos, hopelessness, destruction and great evil. And yet God came to dwell among us in humility, to teach us radical love and to call us to something higher than ourselves and the world around us. The King, piercing the darkness with a simple cry, shaking the very foundations of nature being birthed of a virgin, inviting lowly shepherds, outsiders from afar, and all who would hear to celebrate in his birth. Laying aside his authority for a time to step into the realness of what it means to be a human. Immanuel - God with us. Christmas teaches us that He promises His presence; it teaches us to radically trust God even in the face of great evil and darkness; it teaches us to love and forgive radically (something that is not always easy during the holidays - especially when we've been hurt by friends and family). But as we sit at the feet of Jesus, drawing near to Him, surrendering to Him we can find our lives being transformed, cleansed, renewed. That's what I really want to receive this Christmas, and that's what I really want to give this Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
"How goes the world?" "The world goes not well; but the Kingdom comes." ~ Tales of the Kingdom
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