Simply Miraculous Christmas

I'm definitely a guy.  Today is Christmas Eve so I loaded up the four kiddos (onto the bus) and ran to Queens Center Mall to give them a chance to get mommy & daddy some last minute Christmas presents.  I was shocked.  There cannot be another place on earth busier than this.  Viewed from the clouds the Mall must look like an ant hill.  Lines of people are pouring from the subway, from the parking garages, from the surrounding sidewalks and climbing in line up the hill.  All the ants take little crumbs away from the colony instead of bringing crumbs into it.  They crawl over each other as they leave the ant hill with their crumbs packed in variously sized plastic bags.  We added to the organized chaos and took our crumbs back home.

What a difference 2,000 years makes!  The first Christmas Eve was much more simple.  In Bethlehem there was no procession of lines of people to see the King.  Yes, the city was packed with people.  But the unwed couple received no attention at all when they settled in for a cold night's rest.  Although we don't know the day exactly, we are probably close in estimating the time of year that He was born.  So the night was cold and the people were cold.  The accommodations were simple.  No doubt nervous and preoccupied that night, Joseph kept himself busy by making things as comfortable as possible for young Mary.  Perhaps the contractions have begun as they cuddle together before a fire.  No fanfare there - simple family.

Their simple circumstances are only outdone by their simple faith in the messages given to them by Gabriel, Elizabeth, and Zacharias.  According to these messages, the child that Mary is carrying will be the world's Messiah.  Their faith and joy cannot be dampened.  Neither the animals' stench, the filthy ground, nor the cold air can discourage them from believing.  They sit together and wait what will come.  They make no demands to others because of what God has promised them.  They simply obey.  They obey the royal decree to go to Bethlehem even though Mary is close to delivering the Child.  They don't demand a room for the coming Messiah.  They simply believe that God will provide what He wants for His Son. 

Mary is finally comfortable - or as comfortable as she can be.  Perhaps in the quiet of the night they begin to sing together one or two of the "Pilgrim Songs" sung by Jewish families traveling to Jerusalem during the high Feast Days.  As the night grows dim they quietly hum together:

            "My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning;

Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. 

O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is loving kindness,

And with Him is abundant redemption. 

And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities" (Psalm 130:6-8).

At Jesus' birth there are no fancy visitors, no fanfare, just simplicity.  The angels announce it later that night to simple shepherds - the lowest class of worker. And that enthusiastic group come later to see the babe.  But we know of no one who attended the family during this ordeal.  Did someone help?  I think so.  But they did not know that this baby would be the King of Kings.  They did not know these simple conditions were chosen to bring the Creator into humanity.   Only a handful of people knew at this point.  God kept things very simple.  Simple-quiet, rest, contractions, anguish, birth, joy!  The Savior is here.  A miracle.  A simple miracle.

My mind goes back to the busy ant hill.  What a difference.  This simple miracle 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem viewed by two people in a cold, dirty, animal shelter has grown beyond Mary and Joseph's wildest dreams.  Now a big chunk of world commerce rotates around this time of year because of His birth.  Last year, in the U.S. alone we spent $52.4 billion just on Black Friday weekend. Do you know how much that is?  On the C.I.A.'s website they list the annual GDP of 229 countries in the world.  66% of the world economies have a annual GDP less than $52.4 billion!  I'd say that the simplicity of the beginnings of the birth of Jesus did not ruin God's plan.

Why?  Because it was also miraculous.  I love the simplicity of the first Christmas - the humility of Mary and Joseph, and of course the humility of God to send His only Son for us.  I love the simplicity.  But it was the miraculous nature of the God man that makes for a world changing event.  Gabriel explained it this way to Mary.  "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).  The world was forever to be estranged from God unless God would bridge the way down to us and pick us up.  The incarnation, Christmas, was God stretching down into the filthiness of manhood to meet us here in the filthiness of an animal's feeding trough.  It is Miraculous that God would die for man to allow man to be with God.  So the forever estrangement was canceled because God took to himself the anger that we deserved.  Only God can take away the eternal wrath of God.  Only He could replace the estrangement with Peace.  God must become man for man to be saved.   Jesus is born as God-man to die as God-man to pay the penalty of the sin of man deserved - the wrath of God.  Now salvation is offered to the world - salvation in the forgiveness of sins.  That is miraculous!  As Zacharias prophesied shortly before Jesus' birth: 

"To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, 'to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,' to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:77-79).

So take the time this Christmas to think upon both - the simple and the miraculous.  Relish the remembrance of the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth this time of year.  Celebrate with gifts and feasting and all-out Christian, Christmas celebration!  And, at the same time, enjoy the simplicity of the night.  Rest, think and meditate on the fact that God chose to take on humanity in such low circumstances.  Remember His humility and relish His saving Deity - simply, miraculous celebration and worship.