A Messy Christmas

Greetings and welcome to this month’s Bible study! As you should know, it's the month of December and that means that it's Christmas time! Now since Christmas is coming up, I have a question to ask you:What comes to your mind when you think about Christmas? Do you think of Christmas Eve with the snow falling of the ground, putting the lights on the Christmas tree, getting all of the last minute wrapping of the Christmas gifts done, or maybe sitting there by the fire with a mug of good ol' hot chocolate with a blanket covering your body? One of these things probably brings back good memories to mind and warm fuzzy feelings. These feelings and memories could be described as anything but messy, nasty, and dirty. I mean, who wants a 'messy' Christmas? And when you think about Jesus being born, you probably think of Jesus lying in the manger with His father and mother and all the animals gathered around. You would probably think that when Jesus was born, it was anything but 'messy'. If anything, you might think that it was cut, dried, and neat... anything but messy. If you think this, sorry to say, you're wrong. The first Christmas was dirty, nasty, and 'messy'.

What do I mean? Well, what I want to show is how the first Christmas and Jesus' birth was anything but clean, cut, and tidy. Rather, it was 'messy', thereby drawing from this about how are lives were just the same before we came to know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. So let's get started! Let's look at the first character in the story of Jesus' birth:

Mary

Awww, Mary. Let's take a little look at Mary. Mary was young, anywhere from the age of 13 to 18 years old when the angel of the Lord appeared to her, some say. Mary was young, probably very energetic, happy, and cheerful young woman. I mean, why wouldn't she be happy? She was young, more the likely very pretty, she had her life ahead of her, and she was going to be married to the 'man of her dreams', Joseph (Luke 1:26-27). So Mary had a lot to look forward to, and you could say that her life was just 'peachy'.
But one day, Mary was minding her own business, maybe doing something around the house, when an angel from the Lord appeared to her! The Bible tells us this in Luke 1:26-31:

"Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, the angel said to her, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you'. But Mary was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus.' "

Wow! Just imagine what Mary had running through her mind! Here Mary was, minding her own business, and, POW, an angel of the Lord appears out of nowhere! Think about how amazed Mary probably was, an angel, a real angel, of the Lord was talking to her! But something that the angel said troubled Mary. The angel said that Mary would have a Son and He would be great and He would be given the throne of David! Not only that, but there was one problem, Mary was a virgin! I mean, how could someone have a baby, especially God's baby, that's a virgin? So Mary does the smart thing, Mary asks the angel in Luke 1:34-35:

"Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the Holy Child shall be called the Son of God.' "

Whoa! Talk about messy! One minute Mary was minding her own business with her youth, her life, and a wonderful husband ahead of her, when out of nowhere an angel appears and tells Mary that she's going to have a baby. And that baby was going to be conceived by something called 'The Holy Spirit'. What? How and why must of ran all through Mary's head! And then it happened: Mary got pregnant (Matthew 1:18) . What would her family think? What would her friends think? Most of all, what would Joseph, her future husband, think?!? I mean, who in the world would believe that an angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and told her that she would become pregnant, but not of man, but by something called the 'Hold Spirit'. As you can see, the first Christmas starts off messy with a conception of a baby out of wed-lock.
Messy, dirty, and nasty... But that's isn't all! Let's take a look at how Joseph plays in all of this.

Joseph

Joseph. Let's take a little look at Joseph. Joseph was probably a brisk well-built man. He was probably anywhere from 15 to 20 years old. Joseph took after his father's trade and was a carpenter. Joseph, just like Mary, had a lot to look forward to in life. He was young, strong, and knowledgeable in the craft of carpentries; he to was gong to marry the ‘girl’ of his dreams, Mary. As far as Joseph was concerned, he was looking forward to a wonderful life with his future wife, filled with joy, happiness, and, of course, a few hard times. But the hard times didn't matter; he was going to be with the one he loved for the rest of his life.

But that's not how it happened. You see, after the angel had appeared to Mary, the Bible tells us in Luke 1:39 that immediately after the angel left, that Mary arose to go to the house of Elizabeth, her trusted friend. The Bible doesn't mention Mary telling anyone where she was going. Therefore, her family and her friends were probably worried sick! But not only her family and friends, but also her future husband, Joseph. For all Joseph knew, Mary could have left without telling anyone because she didn't want to marry Joseph. Or maybe Mary had been kidnapped, or worse, murdered! Think of all the thoughts that must have ran through Joseph's mind while Mary was gone.

But that's not even the beginning of the mess! When Mary returned, Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a child; a child that wasn't his. Imagine this picture: Joseph was at the shop working late, trying to keep his mind off of his missing future wife, when all of a sudden someone comes and tells Joseph that Mary has returned! Joseph jumps up, and, without asking any questions, runs with glee and anxiousness to go see Mary. When Joseph arrives, Mary is happy to see him, but very distant for some reason. Joseph takes her hands and holds them, and then he hugs her. When he hugs her, he notices that there's a hump on her belly, a hump that didn't use to be there. He asks Mary, and she confesses that she is pregnant. Joseph then starts to ask questions. Put your-self in Joseph's shoes. You ask Mary how she got pregnant, and she replies it was the doing of something called 'The Holy Spirit'. Would you believe her? Also, imagine the guile that Mary has to say that it's God's doing, not man's. Think of all the things that were going through Joseph's mind: Feelings and thoughts of hurt, betrayal, being lied to (Although he was not), and the why and how could she do this to him and blame it on God. I mean, all Joseph knew was that Mary had disappeared for a while and had come back expecting a child! Would you have believed her excuse?

Messy, nasty, hurt, betrayal, these were the things that characterized the first Christmas. But we're still not done! Let's take a look at the place where Jesus was born.

The Manger

Whenever you think of the place where Jesus was born, what do you think of? Do you think of a warm glow around Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus lying quietly, with wise men gathered around giving gifts, animals making soft noises in the background, and everything neat and tidy? More then likely you do. But this was not what the stable where Jesus was born at was like. First, Mary and Joseph might have been a little frightened because they were in a land away from their family. Also, there were a lot of people there for the Census, and who knew who might try to hurt the young couple. But let's look at the condition Jesus was born into. W. Phillip Kellor* describes what the manger was like, and into what conditions Jesus was born:

“The sheep corral, filthy as only an Eastern animal enclosure can be, reeked pungently with manure and urine accumulated across the seasons. Joseph cleared a corner just large enough for Mary to lie down. Birth pains had started. Mary writhed in agony on the ground...
Joseph swept away the dust and dirt from a small space in one of the hand hewn mangers carved from the soft limestone rock. It was covered with cobwebs and debris fallen from the rock ceiling...
There, alone, unaided, without strangers or friends to witness her ordeal, in the darkness, Mary delivered her son..."

As you can see, this was not a warm fuzzy place that Jesus was born into. It was messy!

So the first Christmas was characterized by being messy, nasty, filthy, hurt, betrayal, and shame. So as you can see, the very first Christmas was anything but clean, neat, and tidy. Hmmmm... You know what? This is kind of how our lives were before we came to know Christ. Our lives were characterized by messy sin, filthy minds and hearts, and nasty rebellion against God. A good example of this would be the Apostle Paul. Just like us, his life was characterized by nasty, filthy, and messy immorality, sin, and rebellion.
I mean, Paul even called himself the chief of sinners in 1 Timothy 1:15 (Or forerunner)! But you know what? Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus to tell Paul (Also known as Saul) to turn from his sin (Acts 9). And Paul did. The same is true for us today! Jesus appeared to us, but not the way He did Paul. Rather, Jesus might have appeared to you through a preacher, friend, teacher, or maybe even a family member. And then, just like Paul, you got saved. No longer is your life characterized by messy sin, filthy mind and heart, and utter and nasty rebellion against God... Is it? Tough question? Yeah, I know it is, but only you know the answer. So right know, if you know that you're not where you're to be, ask God to help and forgive you.

So then, this Christmas season we have plenty to celebrate! Not only should we rejoice since it's Jesus birthday, but also that He was willing to be born in a messy, nasty, and filthy situation. It goes to show how humble, loving, and kind God is to let His only Son go through that. Also, we can celebrate knowing that our lives are no longer characterized by messy sin, filthy mind and heart, and nasty rebellion against God. Rather, that we're made pure and sanctified by Christ's blood, which came through Him dying of the cross. And you know what? We can praise God because just like Mary and Joseph's messy situation, He can work out our messy situation for His glory! Halleluiah! One more thing, if you don't know Christ and you life is still characterized by messy sin of rebellion and heart, please E-mail me or call this number: 1-888-Need-Him.

Now, may God bless you this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our King, Jesus Christ!