It’s a pretty simple story: young couple have a child. Happens all the time, every moment of every day even. An ordinary occurrence for ordinary people.
So what makes the Christmas story so special?
Well, Jesus, obviously, don’t be ridiculous, Robin. It’s the story of the birth of the Son of God, the Messiah, the one the prophet Isaiah proclaims “authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He’s special.
Hear me out, though. That’s a pretty easy way of distancing ourselves from the story when it’s a story designed to connect with us, to bring us in and invite us to the manger.
To begin with, ask any parent if there’s anything ordinary about the birth of a child, a first born, no less. Every parent, I’m sure, would also tell you about the uniqueness of their particular situation, the wonder of that moment of life, the complications and challenges getting there, the worries, the very individual circumstances of bringing a new, completely extraordinary human being into the world. It’s a miracle.
Sometimes, those moments can also end in heartbreak and pain. Remember that, too.
The circumstances of Marys pregnancy are certainly unique. but I doubt her family or the people in her village appreciated it. Joseph wouldn’t have been the only one to wonder and, even with his support, it would have been difficult for the two of them to deal with that, let alone the travel to another place to have the child. It’s not like that doesn’t still happen today.
They were too poor for proper shelter, but did their best and, when the child’s born, their families aren’t the first to know, it’s strangers, ordinary folks from a nearby field.
Familiar enough, and then the author of Luke adds the features that bring meaning to just who this is that’s being born. An angel visits Mary and tells her that she’ll have a child who will be holy (of course, because all children are) and also be full of the Spirit of God and will be great and be called “Son of the Most High” and “Son of God.” Pretty fancy titles. Mary must have been pretty scared by all this. “Don’t be afraid” says the angel.
Come to think of it, Joseph was pretty worried and an angel said “don’t be afraid.” And I imagine that their journey to Bethlehem was uncomfortable at best and they had to hold on to those words more than a few times.
The ordinary folks who hear the news first also meet an angel, too. “Don’t be afraid,” the angel says and go see this child because this is the one that prophets say will save the people and change the world. So they go and they see the child and then they go and tell others the good news.
And that’s just Luke. Matthew’s account adds in magi, foreigners seeking a special child. An angel tells them to not be afraid and warns them of the danger of returning to Herod. Oh, and an angel telling Joseph he shouldn’t be afraid because the child will be the one Isaiah says will be Emmanuel, which means “God with us.”
Don’t be afraid. Or “fear not,” if you prefer. Why? Because the child is “God with us.”
We might see the manger as that special moment in a special story of a special child. And it is, but that ought not to distance us from Jesus, but invite us in. God is with us, just as God is with all the characters in the story. Our angels may be a little harder to see, but they’re there, constantly reminding us that we are special, too, we are, like Jesus, full of the spirit. And when this child grows up, they will live a life that says “don’t be afraid, God is with you.”
