An Unexpected Christmas
By Sarah Walker
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.Luke 2:11-12 (ESV)
Oftentimes in the retelling of the Christmas story, extraordinary events become ordinary. The uncommon and unexpected becomes common and expected. We hear the tale every year, multiple times over. We sing songs to commemorate the event. There are pageants and proceedings to draw us into the events surrounding that holy night. But have we ever taken a moment to step back from the expected, the common and the ordinary...and allowed God to make them unexpected, uncommon, and once again extraordinary to us?
Consider how Jesus chose to become incarnate:
Consider how Jesus chose to become incarnate:
- The Word came to earth as a baby unable to speak. The angels came to earth and consistently had to tell people not to be afraid. Yet Jesus, God of the world, was born unable to walk or talk, completely dependent for His very sustenance from His own creation. He couldn't tell anyone not to be afraid, let alone say any meaningful words.
- The Creator was born as an outcast of His creation. There was no room for Him in the inn. His first bed was a manger, and He was greeted by shepherds. Jesus was higher than the angels, yet he stooped down to earth. Not to have a one-day, awe-inspiring encounter with humans, but the Creator of galaxies chose to enter as an embryo.
- The holy, perfect One was born into this world as a perceived child of scandal. The One who created man and called him very good was willing to show us just how far He would go to redeem us. Wefell. We sinned. And He humbled Himself, being born right in the midst of that shame. Jesus didn't distance Himself from us. Rather, he entered our sufferings in a personal, vulnerable way.
Jesus truly humbled Himself to come to earth as an infant, all to obey the Father and to redeem us. He didn't come when everything was "good" enough for Him. No, He chose to come right in the middle of this sinful world, accepting all the consequences that came with that decision.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Are there situations in your own life where you need to let Jesus enter in, right in the middle of where you find yourself, regardless of pride, embarrassment or desiring self-sufficiency? If so, do it!
2. Listen to the nativity narrative as though never hearing it before. Rather than seeing it as commonplace, what seems out of the ordinary, unexpected or unusual? What does that reveal about God?
FURTHER READING:Philippians 2:5-11
Sarah is married to Scott and is a full-time mom to their two young sons. She and Scott co-lead a summer/winter neighborhood small group.
