CHRISTmas

Insight 78 | I am a bit torn while writing this week. While in one sense I hope you are resting and far away from your email, in a another, I am fully convinced there is nothing more important than the subject of today’s newsletter.

Although it’s in the name and many of us have grown up hearing it before, there is no Christmas without Christ. And yet, if you’re anything like me, it’s quite easy to get caught up in the presents and lose sight of his presence in the midst of it all. Whether this belief aligns with yours or not, I ask you to keep an open mind to hearing the story of this festive season's lovely inspiration. I believe there is a life-changing lesson in it.

​As both a breather from the bustling of our daily lives and as the most important reminder we could receive at this moment, I present you with the story of a great God willingly turned innocent babe. This is Christmas.

​Imagine a young girl, quite young indeed. Innocent and with her whole life ahead of her. Her name is Mary. She’s betrothed to a man with a good reputation, a man who works as a carpenter. He is upstanding and morally responsible. His name is Joseph. They are both Israelites, and although yet unaware, together they will parent the savior of the world from child to Christ (meaning messiah in Greek).

As many may know, it is at this point that an angel from the Lord comes to Mary to announce that because of her obedient heart, she will conceive the one who will redeem us all. When Joseph discovers she’s miraculously pregnant, he looks to dissolve their marriage pact quietly out of respect for both families. Soon after, the angel reappears and tells him this is an act of the Lord, and he is to see it through.

Already, the account is rich with lessons, but let’s go a little further.

Called to complete a census, the people of Israel are required to make their way to their head of households home town. It is on this journey that Mary enters into the preliminary stages of giving birth. When they arrive in their respective town, the city of Bethlehem, the inns are full, and the couple is denied lodging.

After much difficulty and many denials, a business owner allows them rest in a barn nearby. It is not comfortable. It is not pretty. But it’s respite for a moment. The time is almost here. The trip has been long, Mary must be exhausted, but there is still some required of her.

She gets into position, and her breathing intensifies. She holds Joseph's hand, squeezing it hard to get through the pain. She pushes. A cow moos loudly. She hears it as an encouragement. She pushes again, her breathing harder. This goes on until all of a sudden…

It’s done. He is here.

A miracle has occurred tonight in the most ordinary and mundane of places. This moment marks a change in history. Years will be counted, as of now, in relation to this night, and even Eternity itself now looks different. This cooing child is the fulfillment of countless prophesies and the heralding of a new covenant. The five fingers that can barely wrap around his mother’s pointer are the same hands that laid the foundations of the cosmos.

A few moments later, shepherds arrive. They act as the testimony to the demonstration of God's goodness in Mary’s arms. Called from the fields and into the city to find this strange scene, these shepherds are to go around letting everyone know the great thing that has happened here tonight.

While there is much more to come in the story God has been crafting, this episode concludes peacefully. This silent and holy night is CHRISTmas.

True, real, and authentic. Not gift wrapped or covered in streamers, but as tradition tells us, it was. It was quiet. It was unimpressive. It was a lowly and humble event. Is that not incredible to ponder over?

In a previous article, we discussed how “Just because God is taking you the long way, doesn’t mean God is taking you the wrong way”. Well, it’s similar here.

The Lord doesn’t need the fanfare or paparazzi. Barn animals and the witness of shepherds were all he decided to have around in his concerto of an arrival. God can work in big moments, but his biggest ones yet have been noticeably defined by a certain type of humility.

In modern terms, maybe God understood the idea of keeping it “low-key” before Gen-Z ever did.

Every year, I become more convinced that the word of God is a living and breathing text. While I am aware that may sound a bit peculiar to some, I promise that any serious engagement with the Bible will reap similar effects in your own life. If you don’t believe me, I strongly encourage you to try it.

I say this because, although I’ve heard the Christmas story countless times, it hasn’t been till this time around that its overwhelming ordinariness struck me as divine revelation. The King of all creation made a helpless creature. His entourage? Camels and sheep. Yes, there were angels, but only a select few were blessed to see these. The rest of the work took place quietly within the womb of an obedient woman, and nine months later, finished in a small, candlelit cave.

When I think about Christmas like that, I can’t help but stand in awe of God. If he chose to start his world-saving plan like that, with an ordinary man and woman in a regular old place, I think we all have reason to believe he has a lot of power to work with whatever ordinary we have to bring.

Think about it, what is possible with the ordinary when God is in charge of the extra? Beautiful things, let me tell you.

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I leave you with the lyrics by artists Forrest Frank and JVKE that set today’s newsletter into motion. I pray we all take these to heart, not only for today but for every CHRISTmas we ever have the gift to live:

Let's put the King of the world in His rightful place

Let's put Christ back in Christmas

Let the gifts be reminders of what He gave

And the lights that we see

Remind you and me

Of the light of the world, we hung on a tree

I don't wanna forget this

Let's put Christ back in Christmas​

- Making The Most Of Being Curious

Daniel J. Cuesta

Sources:​

Christmas Accounts In The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.​

Forrest Frank & JVKE (song): CHRISTmas