Merry Christmas!

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7 ESV).

Merry Christmas! Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? However, with all the various challenges of any holiday, I wonder if it really will be a merry day. Sometimes the inconveniences of the holidays really can be frustrating. As I meandered through the newest update and installation of emoticons of IOS 10.2 I saw one that was all too familiar. I sincerely hope you do not feel the need to express yourself with this one. At any rate, it got me thinking about some of the inconveniences of Christmas and especially the first Christmas. Saying that is was inconvenient for Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem to register and be taxed at this time in their lives is certainly an understatement. It would have been very easy to berate the “greedy government officials” for imposing such a tax and registration. It would have been easy for them to have felt that this new decree was more than they could bear. Yet there is no indication that they complained. Others in the Christmas story had the same conveniences to deal with. The shepherds didn’t complain about their disrupted night. The wise men didn’t fuss about their long journey. ave had doubts, there were also reassurances along the way—the word of angels, the prophecies of Scripture, the star to follow. Whether they knew it or not, God was arranging all the details of this unique event. He had planned it long before Jesus’ birth and revealed pieces of the plan to many prophets throughout the years. I suspect that throughout Mary’s life she searched the Scriptures and continued to make connections between the prophecies and the life of her son. I’m sure Mary was disturbed to hear from Simeon, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:34 ESV). Her baby was still tiny, but already a shadow had appeared. And before too long they’d have to go to Egypt to avoid Herod’s wrath. Their celebration of a new life was probably nothing like they’d anticipated. It reminds me that no matter what challenges we face during the holidays and at year-end, and how tempting it can be to grumble, the birth of Jesus helps put things in perspective. God chose to send His Son into a dirty, sinful world, under terrible conditions, just because He loved us too much to let us go. And because He did, one day we will be freed from all the struggles, sin, sickness, and death that is part of this fallen world. That’s something worth celebrating! Merry Christmas!