Christmas... how inconvenient
It must have felt really inconvenient for Joseph and Mary to have to travel to Bethlehem at the end of Mary's pregnancy. Having recently lived with a pregnant woman, I can testify to the difficulties of having to bend over and tie your shoes, much less ride on the back of an animal for dozens and dozens of miles.
I wonder what Mary must have thought about the timing of all of that. A few months earlier, this angel appears to her and tells her she is going to give birth to a holy baby, and at the end she finds herself in labor in the desert. And if Mary was anything like me (you know, except for that whole "being a woman" thing), when the labor pains hit my first reaction would have been something along the lines of "Of course! This kind of junk always happens to me!"
And being turned away from the inn would have just added fuel to my frustration and angst. I would certainly have felt as if the entire world was against me (as I have felt that ridiculous notion in my own life more times than I'd like to admit).
Now, I'm kind of putting myself in Mary's position, and I must be careful not to assume that she felt the way I think I would have. I'm not suggesting this is the "truth" of the account, just that I can imagine for myself what I would be feeling, and I think the scriptures are good at allowing us to do that while teaching us something along the way.
And in this account, I think that I'm learning a little more about patience and perseverance. That despite the fact that I have my own internal timetables for how I want to do everything, ultimately, I must be obedient to what God is doing, even (or perhaps especially) when it's inconvenient or uncomfortable for me to do so.
This is hard for me to do. I think I've said it before - but it bears repeating - that I am often guilty of looking to my own present circumstances to give me an idea of my "standing" with God. You know, if things are going well, I feel that I must be doing okay in the eyes of the Almighty, and vice versa. And while there's something to be said for the consequences of living a life of disobedience, my point is that our circumstances alone are a pretty poor indicator of our "favor" with God (just ask Job).
But despite the fact that I know this, I keep falling into old habits. And when it comes to persevering through more difficult and inconvenient times and trusting that God is doing things for a reason, I'm really poor at sticking with it. I complain. I grumble. And at times, my own lovely wife would say I'm hard to live with. I guess I still wish (and on some level, expect) that God would make my life easier. Oops.
As the story of Jesus' birth continues, we see that all the inconveniences Mary endured in the last bit of her pregnancy had some pretty rich symbolic meaning. "Fulfillment of prophecy" kind of stuff. Stuff that had to do with God and little to do specifically with Mary. And while I'm over here in my little American bubble thinking that whatever's happening to me has EVERYTHING to do with me, the truth is that God is about doing what he's doing (you know, saving the world, restoring what was broken, healing wounds, etc.). I have a limited view of a very limitless God sometimes. But now back to Christmas...
I'm no scholar, so I'll just encourage you to listen to/download for free this podcast from last Christmas. The pastor of our church, Lee Mason, talked about some of the historical aspects of the nativity, and it blew my mind (in a good way). There is so much deep symbolism in the story, from the "swaddling clothing" being the same kind that were used for sacrificial lambs, to the whole concept of the "inn" (probably a relative's house and not a Ramada) to the likely place of the manger (under a watchtower where it was thought the king would amass his army). It's just great to chew on it, to wonder about it all.
Here's the audio:
Again, I don't know much on my own. But I love the wonder. I mean, what a bizarre thing, to be a God born a man...
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