DAY SEVEN: Piece of work

I don’t know what is wrong with me. It is December 23, and I have barely introduced the Christmas story. I can’t be trusted.

TODAY I promise to at least use a familiar Christmas passage. In an effort to move things along, let’s pretend we’ve talked about:

An angel tells Mary she’s pregnant with God. (crazy)

Joseph, a GREAT guy, doesn’t want to embarrass Mary, so he plans to divorce her quietly. Instead, God speaks to him in a DREAM and he begins to care for Mary and face the gossip and humiliation with her.

Caesar Augustus decides he wants to count all the people that he rules over, and he requires that they return to their hometowns to be registered. Joseph is from Bethlehem.

Mary rides a donkey for 60 miles (!) while 9 months pregnant.

They arrive in Bethlehem only to discover that every other person got there before them. There is no place to stay, and Mary goes into labor.

Seeing her condition, one man offers them his stable (which was really a cave – not the wooden structures we see in manger scenes). Desperate, Joseph accepts the offer, and the God of the Universe is born amongst domestic animals. And, for one breathless moment, no one on earth understood the heart and plans of God better than a teenage girl, a carpenter and some goats.

Which brings us to today’s Christmasy thoughts.

I don’t know why God chose to tell shepherds first, but it makes me smile. It may be of interest to you that shepherds were the lowest of the low in that society. As a matter of fact, in a court of law, a shepherd’s testimony was not even considered admissible because they were so untrustworthy. They were dirty, slept outside, and smelled like the animals they tended.

It is to these folks that an angel appears. He says:

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Just think. You’re sitting by the campfire. You were bummed to get the night shift. Your shepherd buddy is going on and on about how he plans to attend business school some day and work his way out of this shepherding gig, and something appears in the sky…

I am particularly interested in what the angels say. They are crazy well-known words if you’ve ever gone to a Christmas Eve service, but look at it again: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

PEACE. Peace seems like such an unattainable thing, and I’m not just talking about the Iraqi War type peace. Peace amongst neighbors. Peace on TV. Peace deep inside my spirit.

It makes these words even more intriguing. Peace to men on whom his favor rests. Besides the regrettable fact that the men who wrote and translated the Bible came from patriarchal societies and failed to say, “Peace to men AND WOMEN,” there is this additional thought, “on whom His favor rests.” What does that mean?

Before you accuse God of being selective and/or exclusive, consider this idea. In order for God to fix the world (bring peace), He wants to fix me (give me peace, so I can be peaceful). Being fixed requires my cooperation. When I offer up my life, open up my mind and heart, I am available to receive His favor. I can taste peace.

But I can be a piece of work, believe me. I can be stubborn, and a know-it-all, and unyielding (think yesterday). I am, however, open. I have decided to believe and confess that Jesus is the God who came to get us. My heart is bent toward cooperation. And every once in a while, God and I celebrate when our partnership works as designed, and I am changed.

So I guess that makes me a work-in-progress on whom His favor rests.

Peace is work for a piece of work, and favor RESTING on me sounds like Christmas.

One last thought. The Scripture goes on to say about our shepherds: So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

God chooses the most unreliable, untrustworthy witnesses to tell His story. Oh, I feel like that sometimes! Why would God pick me?

I'm just one more tangible proof Christmas. There is no challenge too big, there is no person so lost, there is no doubt so overwhelming, there is no pride too steep, there is no world so mixed up, that He cannot step into and redeem. All we need to do is cooperate by believing in the God who came to get us. And then His favor rests.

Peace to you this Christmas.