The Weirdest Birthday Ever (a.k.a. Back to the Manger)

Hey guys!  :)  So, Christmas is almost upon us.  Everybody’s thinking about it: snow, Santa, presents, spending the day with family.  It gets crazier every year.  Christmas decorations are going up in October now.  Shopping is insane beyond belief.  There are a hundred Christmas parties to go to, a thousand gifts to buy, and a million people to make sure and send a Christmas card to.  That is, if you can even get everyone together and still long enough for a semi-decent Christmas picture.  So much for “peace on earth.”  Amy Grant’s song “I Need a Silent Night” captures that frazzled feeling, and I fell in love with it last year because it was just so accurate. 

But on to the point of this Americanized-Christmas bashing monologue.  (Like my use of adjectives, Beth?)  I’m pretty sure everybody reading this knows the Christmas story.  In fact, we know it so well that we’ve become desensitized to its magic.  Hopefully this will help to get rid of some of that and bring back some of the magic of Christmas into your lives.  One of my favorite Christmas songs is Third Day’s “Christmas Like a Child.”  Check it out, when you have time. 

The following conversation is a little creative writing project that popped into my head.  I’m betting you’ve never heard anything quite like it.  Hopefully this new spin will bring some of that magic back into Christmas.

“Hello, Jesus.  I’m Angel Michael.  I’m in charge of planning your ‘Grand Entrance’, as we’re calling it.” 

“Hello, Michael.  Nice to meet you.” 

“Likewise.  Now then, let’s get down to business, shall we?  I see that you’ve already selected a date.  So the next question would be, what kind of a feel are we going for here?  Majestic ruler of the world, and all that?” 

“Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of arriving as a baby.” 

“Ah, the ‘appeal of innocence’ approach.  A good choice.  Which brings us to location.  This approach is much easier to fit in, so that opens up a lot more venues.  One option would be going into the high priest’s family.  Or, if you’d prefer a more secular approach, we could also arrange for Herod to have another son.  Good publicity there.  The best choice, of course, would be to go in as a close relative of Caesar, but I’m assuming you’d rather stick with someone with more Jewish roots?” 

“Correct.  But I was actually thinking about something simpler.  Say...  Maybe the son of a carpenter?” 

“Hm.  Less publicity that way, but the appeal to the common man increases and that might balance it out.  I assume you’re still thinking Jerusalem?” 

“What about somewhere simpler?  How about Bethlehem, for example?” 

“King David was from there, so it would be a fairly symbolic choice.  Maybe we could even arrange for his house?” 

“I was thinking maybe somewhere simpler, like a stable.” 

“Definitely not my first choice.  But...  The story would definitely draw attention.  Speaking of attention.  If you’re really sold on Bethlehem, I suggest we compensate with extra advertising.  We could, for example, rearrange the stars so they say ‘The Messiah has been born.’  Bright lights would also be a nice touch.  And I think I can arrange for a decent angel chorus.” 

“The angels are a good idea.  But I’m not so sure about the star banner...” 

“I suppose it might be a bit much...  What would you suggest?” 

“We could just put a new star in the sky.” 

“Not bad, but it is a bit subtle.  Only certain astronomers would notice.  How about a compromise?  We get one star, but make it really big and bright.  And position it directly above the stable.” 

“I like that idea.” 

“Alright.  That brings us to the guest list.  I’m looking at my calendar, and it looks like both Herod and the high priest are free that weekend.  There are also several noted scholars, Pharisees, and officials who could probably make it.  I might also be able to arrange for a few Eastern kings, although they would be a bit late.  Who else did you have in mind?” 

“Well, I wasn’t really planning on it being that big of a celebration...” 

“Not exactly the party type, eh?  Well, I suppose we can forgo the officials.  Although Herod and the high priest should probably both come.” 

“The Eastern kings are alright.  I don’t mind if they’re late.  But I’m not too sure about Herod and the high priest...” 

“It would be extremely good advertising.” 

“Yeah...  But I was thinking more along the lines of common people.  They are who I’m going for, after all.” 

“Alright.  I suppose we can downsize a little.  There are some notable persons in the Bethlehem area.  I can probably arrange for them to be there.  Unless you had something else in mind?” 

“Actually, there are a lot of shepherds around there, and they tend to get left out.  We could invite them.” 

“No offense, Jesus, but there’s a reason they don’t get invited to parties.” 

“Well invite them anyway.  And send the angel chorus to tell them.” 

“It seems a bit of a waste of talent to send the angels to shepherds...” 

“I know they’ll appreciate it.” 

“Okay.  I guess if that’s what you want...  I’ll send a cleaning crew down to the stable tomorrow to fix it up.  And I’ll make sure the shepherds have enough notice to make themselves presentable.” 

”Don’t worry about it.  The stable will be fine.  And so are the shepherds.  They can come however they want.” 

“Jesus, I’m not sure if you’ve ever been in a stable.  Or around shepherds.  But they stink.  Seriously.  I highly suggest cleaning up a bit.” 

“It’ll be fine just as it is.  Really.  I insist.” 

“Okay, Jesus.  It’s your party.  And if you don’t mind my saying so, this is definitely the weirdest birthday party I have ever planned.” 

Okay, okay, so it was pretty cheesy.  But I think you get the point.  The Christmas story was not the big, explosive event we all seem to envision it as.  There were no resounding trumpets signaling his arrival.  The world did not stop spinning, and the night sky did not become ablaze with light.  The shepherds got a chorus of angels, and the kings in the east got a new star.  The rest of the world just kept going, business as usual, completely unaware of what had just happened.  The Casting Crowns song “While You Were Sleeping” puts it this way:

"Oh little town of Bethlehem, looks like another silent night.  Above your deep and dreamless sleep, a giant star lights up the sky.  And while you're lying in the dark, there shines an everlasting light.  For the King has left his throne and is sleeping in a manger tonight.  Oh, Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping..."

That image completely blows my mind.  The son of God was born into the world, and no one knew!  They had no idea that somewhere in a filthy stable in a backwards town in tiny Israel the wife of a nameless carpenter was giving birth to a child with the power to save them all.  No one knew. 

But it goes beyond that.  The Christmas story is not the magical fairy tale we have painted it to be.  To begin with, Mary, a young girl in Nazareth, is suddenly pregnant with a child even though she swears she has never been with a man.  Because she is engaged, she could easily be charged with adultery, the punishment for which was stoning.  Joseph, the carpenter to whom she is engaged, nearly divorces her because he does not want her to be killed.  Just imagine how hurt and betrayed he must have felt.  Imagine how terrified Mary must have been.  But an angel comes to Joseph in his sleep and explains it all, and Joseph decides to marry her anyway.  My guess would be that they quickly became the town outcasts, the ones who were whispered about as they passed by.  Life would have been hard, to say the least.  But then some bright guy decides he wants to have a census, and Mary and Joseph are forced to make the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  The two cities are about 80 miles apart, and a man in good condition could have walked about 20 miles a day, making it a four-day journey.  But Mary was heavily pregnant, and there could have been a wide variety of other obstacles, so many people assume the journey would have actually taken around a week. 

It only gets worse from there.  They reach Bethlehem only to find that no one has any room, and their only option is in a filthy, smelly stable with all the animals.  Definitely the last place in the world you would want to give birth.  Not to mention that there were no drugs back then to ease the birth.  It was all natural.  Using the word “painful” would be the understatement of the year.  (It typically is when describing childbirth.)  I imagine Mary just about squeezed Joseph’s hand off, and the poor carpenter probably just about had a heart attack hoping nothing went wrong.  And when the beautiful baby boy was finally born, his parents had to place him in a feed trough because there was nowhere else.  I don’t know about you, but I find that image pretty humbling.  The Son of God was placed in a feed trough in a stable because no one else had room for him.  The Savior of the world was born into one of the lowest, filthiest, stinkiest places on earth so He could grow up and die on a cross to save the sins of people, many of whom would completely reject that gift.  Talk about love. 

From there the story just gets crazier.  There was no huge party celebrating Jesus’ birth, no fireworks or television announcement.  The only people who did know were the shepherds.  This is another part of the story that really gets me.  You have a whole town crammed full of people, and you send the angels to the shepherds?  Seriously?  Why not Jerusalem?  Here’s the thing about shepherds.  They hung out with sheep, which meant they stank.  I mean really stank.  And that’s saying a lot, considering that people in Bible times weren’t very good at hygiene anyway.  Shepherds didn’t even make the totem pole of society.  Pretty much the only people lower than them were prostitutes, tax collectors, and “sinners.”  So why send the angels to them?  I think there are two reasons.  Firstly, because these were exactly the people Jesus had come to save.  He didn’t come for the Pharisees and teachers of the law because they believed they could save themselves.  Jesus came to save the weak and the low, the outcasts and the unimportant.  Which brings us to the second reason.  The shepherds knew they had very little social standing, and therefore the importance of the event would not be lost on them.  They would understand how incredibly privileged they were to meet the Savior, and they would be overjoyed that they were given the chance to be there first.  They were at a place in life where they would appreciate God’s gift for what it was. 

The other set of visitors mentioned in the Bible are Magi from the east.  These guys were no even Jews.  They were Gentiles, probably from somewhere near Babylon (that would have given them access to the writings of Daniel, which would have helped them discover the star’s purpose).  And yet it was they who noticed the star and sought out what it meant.  They dug through scrolls and prophecies until they thought they understood the star’s meaning, and then they set out on a journey that finally led them to Bethlehem as much as two years after Jesus’ birth.  It was they, not the Jews, who understood who this little child was.  They brought him gifts befitting a king.  They understood what the Jews had missed.  Personally, I think it was because they were really truly looking.  There was something in their hearts that wanted to find a savior.  Why else would they have set out on such a journey following a star, of all things, to where such a person might have been born?  Not to say that the Jews were not looking.  They were.  But they were looking for someone quite different.  They wanted a mighty king who would free them from the Romans, not a man who would die to save their souls.  And so what I see as the greatest irony of the Christmas story came about: it was shepherds, not priests, who were present the night Jesus was born, and it was Gentiles, not Jews, who acknowledged him as king.  The Jews, the people Jesus had originally come for, completely and totally missed it from the very beginning.  Sometimes I think Americans have the same problem.  We are looking in all the wrong places for all the wrong things.  We are so caught up in our busy lives that we completely miss the tiny baby waiting in the manger. 

Recently I’ve found myself drifting away from “traditional” Christmas music and more towards songs that talk about what Christmas is really about.  Not that I don’t still love “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, or Stellar Kart’s “Punk the Halls”.  But as I’m growing older and getting a better grasp on the real majesty of the Christmas story, I find that I’m beginning to prefer songs that tell that story.  Some of my favorites include “The Night Before Christmas” by Brandon Heath and “How Many Kings” by Downhere.  Todd Agnew’s “Do You See What I See” album covers the Christmas story from several different viewpoints, and I absolutely love how real and powerful it is.  Definitely check it out.  You won’t regret it.  You should also see the movie The Nativity Story if you haven’t already.  Once again, a very real and very powerful depiction of the Christmas story. 

Anyways.  Hope some of that gives you guys something to think about.  My hope is that this Christmas you will be able to pull back from all of the craziness that is Christmas and find some time to focus on what it’s really all about.  Make time for the baby in the manger.  Don’t spend the whole holiday looking in all the wrong places. 

Love you guys a ton.  Wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!