Learning From Christmas Difficulty
The birth of Jesus is a profound testament to God's unconventional methods of working in our world.
While human success often hinges on an advantaged background, financial resources, and influential connections, the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth was the opposite.
In first-century Judea, the power brokers of the day were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Roman officials, and they controlled through their political connections and financial resources an ability to sway public opinion.
And in the case of the Romans, through military strength.
Yet in God's providence, Jesus came into the world in a way that went counter to the established pathway to power.
This created many obstacles to his acceptance because he simply didn't appeal to those who would gravitate to earthly wisdom and influence and comfort.
The fact that Mary was pregnant before marriage would have created a lifelong stigma for Jesus, making it difficult for the established religious community to accept him as someone they should worship.
And being born in a stable with a feeding trough for animals as a cradle was not royal or powerful.
And Jesus' family lacked the financial resources that often paved the way for success and influence.
The son of a carpenter wouldn't have had access to the formal education that the sanctioned elites would have approved of.
Yet it's precisely these challenging circumstances that often highlight God's unique way of working.
By choosing the lowly, God demonstrates that his power is not dependent on human advantage or earthly status.
Instead, God's strength is made perfect in weakness. That's 2 Corinthians 12:9.
This reminds me of other unlikely biblical characters like Rahab, a prostitute who was inserted into Jesus' family tree.
Or Tamar, a Canaanite woman who posed as a prostitute to bear children with her father-in-law Judah. She too is in the line of Jesus.
God often chooses to work through poverty, powerlessness, and social stigma. This ensures that the glory goes to Jesus and not to human ingenuity or advantage.
Jesus not only came in weakness. Weakness is also the path to salvation. No one is saved unless there is humility. After all, crying to God for help is not an act of pride.
The Christmas story, with all its hardships, tells us that when we put limits on God's power because of the human context, we are fundamentally out of step with who God is and what he's doing.
Just as Jesus' humble birth did not interfere with who he was or what he would accomplish for us, he is still making himself known and saving sinners even though the world around us is moving against him.
God moves against the norms that sinful humans set up. This should be encouraging to us. He can do anything and save anyone.
The birth of Jesus in poverty and outside the power structure of this world is a profound statement of who he was and what it looks like to be used by God.
He always moved in the power of his Father and was not looking for this world to approve of him.
And while God can and does use us, even though we don't get it right, we need to know that if we're changing the gospel or looking to worldly strategies and power to succeed for Christ, we have it wrong.
Jesus came in humility to save the weak. This will always be outside the earthly power structure, and so will we.
Jesus, your willingness to come in humility and be one of us is amazing. I'm sorry for being attracted by worldly status and comfort. Thank you for being humble and showing us what it looks like. Please cause me to be amazed at your love for the sinner.