MEAGHAN MAY | CONTRIBUTOR

As a child, I was fascinated by the tiny nativity set at my grandmother’s home. These little figures told me a big story. But as an adult, I ponder if these sets are realistic. 

Mary is fresh-faced, neatly pressed, and beautifully dressed. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable with her flapping stomach after her recent labor. The baby Jesus is giggling while placed in the animals’ snack bowl and dear Joseph doesn’t seem overwhelmed by the task of caring for his betrothed and new child.

Does the pristine nativity scene set unrealistic expectations for our own celebrations? I have found that some of my own Christmases have been more of a mess than they have been merry.

Each Christmas I have a list of key elements that I think, if I can just pull all this together, we will have a Merry Christmas. But I can tell a lot about what I long for at Christmas when I start to name what I am worried about. I am tempted to think that because things have gone awry, God is holding out on me. I fail to consider that God is offering me something more than what I am requesting.

We expect Christmas to give us lasting peace, joy, and beauty, but we are not sure how to make these longings a part of the messy scene.

With plans dashed, while sitting beside hospital beds, sorting through debris, preparing for difficult conversations, missing loved ones, or pinching pennies, Christmas reminds us that because there is messiness in us, and around us, redemption had to come from outside us. We need the help of a God who does the impossible to give us hope. The wonder of the season starts with us remembering that the Lord entered our world to bring hope to us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Missing Jesus

In Luke 10, we find an account of two sisters, Martha and Mary. In this passage, Martha looks like I feel in December. Martha has invited Jesus into her home, but in the bustle of the moment, she orbits around Him, instead of interacting with Him.

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (vv.38-42).

Martha was so busy with the busyness of serving, she was not only frustrated with her sister, but also with Jesus! 

Almost comically, where Mary was learning and receiving from Jesus, Martha was instructing Jesus, suggesting that she had a better way for Him to do life if He would just listen. At this point of tension, Jesus pursues her. He slows her down. She might have reported that He was getting in the way of all she was hoping to accomplish.

There is a juxtaposition between two words in this passage,

“You are anxious and troubled by many things but only one thing is necessary.”

The difference is between the “many” and the “one.” Jesus isn’t saying, “Look ladies, just focus on getting one thing right.” We might misinterpret that as serving the perfect dessert, finding that one spectacular present, or hosting the “perfect” family outing this Christmas. He isn’t saying, “Less is more.”

The difference between many things and one thing begins when we focus on Jesus as the main thing!

Do you believe it? He is the best portion! 

The Best Portion this Christmas

This last year many of us have suffered many losses. Things do not feel the same. Our friends and family have passed into glory. We have experienced disappointments, heartache, health concerns, and other vulnerabilities.  We hope that the joy of the season will wash over us. 

John the beloved Apostle wrote, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:12-14).

The fuss and fury of Christmas can keep us from receiving and rejoicing over the gift of Jesus into the world. God’s glory was present in our mess and so we can hang our hope on Him.

You need not assess Christmas by how well things go according to your plan or how pretty they look. 

The “good portion,” will not be taken away. Although we will take down our Christmas trees, and pack away our decorations, the love of Christ at the center of Christmas will not be “taken from us.”

No matter how messy Christmas may feel, our Messiah has entered our world to redeem it. In the midst of the chaos of Christmas, we can discover a peaceful countenance upon our own faces because we are held in the hope given to us by the Promised One. What Mary knew that first messy Christmas was that God had come through for them. The young Savior in the middle of the scene was sent to right our world and renew it, and it was just beginning. We know the hope that Jesus has brought and the redemption that was ushered in by His birth. Mary saw that truly nothing is impossible with God. The Lord Immanuel is God with us in the midst of the mess, born for those of us who are weary, enabling us to say “Merry Christmas!”

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash