A Perfeclty Imperfect Christmas

 

 

Scripture

 Luke 2:1-7

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  (NRSV)

 

Devotion

With Christmas mere 5 days away, many of us are now in the middle of what I tend to think of as the Christmas Crunch--that last minute of activity as  people try to prepare for the "perfect" Christmas experience.    People are trying to fit cleaning the house and readying guest rooms into schedules already jam-packed with last minute shopping, wrapping presents, and attending (or even hosting)  a Christmas party or two.  Meanwhile, church leaders are busily preparing special music, putting candles into holders, and doing all manner of other things to create what they hope will be flawless Christmas Eve services.  And don't even get me started  on how stressed out some people when kids help decorate the Christmas tree in a way that "just right."

This can be a stressful time.  An anxious time.  And come midnight on December 25, many of us will be exhausted...and even with all that activity, it is rare to find someone who managed to put together that perfect Christmas experience that we all feel expected to pull off.

 Why, though, are we so worried about creating a flawless Christmas when the circumstances that Jesus was born into were anything but perfect?  Joseph and Mary would have already been under an incredible amount of pressure that came with discovering that she was pregnant with God's child.   People in their hometown  and their extended families would have been gossiping about the situation and comping up with their own theories of what had happened.  Just imagine how anxious Joseph and Mary must have felt when they discovered that they were required to make a 90 mile trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem right around the baby's date.  Imagine the stress of the journey.  And to top it all off, when they finally got there, the small town was so crowded that there wasn't even a comfortable place for them to stay.  Their only viable option was a shared space with animals...which was still better than no place at all.

Mary must have been tired and sore from the journey.  She was probably scared about giving birth in a strange place and under difficult circumstances with only Joseph to support her.  Joseph must have seethed with frustration about the poor timing of Caesar's census, not getting to Bethlehem in time to get a room, and their less than ideal accommodations.  Plans were falling apart, and nothing about this already incredible  birth was going to go as the couple had probably hoped.  And yet it was there--in the midst of all that mess and all that activity--that Emmanuel (God with Us) would enter the world.

Isn't it a relief to know that Jesus demand that everything be perfect when he arrives?  Jesus comes to when we are tired.  He stays with us when we are frustrated.  He gives us his divine help when nothing is going they way we planned and we are doing our best with what we have.   When Christ comes, he brings joy into even the messiest and most imperfect of situations.  And that is part of the joy of Christmas.

When you feel anxious, frustrated, or distressed that things as you wanted--when perfection seems far out of reach--why not pause for a moment and remember a road-weary couple heading inside to bed down with some animals.  If Jesus could bring hope, peace, joy, and love to the world as his parents spent the night in a strange place full of animals, then he can certainly bring it to you and your loved ones.  Most of all, do not our society's obsession with perfection take away from the joy of celebrating Christ's birth.  For on Christmas, we celebrate nothing less than that Jesus came to be God With Us in all our messy, human imperfection.  And if an imperfect Christmas was good enough for Mary and Joseph, then it should be good enough for us too.

 

Prayer 

Jesus, thank you for coming to us in all our human imperfection.  As we approach the day when we celebrate your birth, help me let go of all the things that make me frustrated and anxious so that I may experience the joy of knowing that you truly are God With Us.