A Child is Born

by Keith Gardner

Luke 2:6-7 While they [Mary and Joseph] were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Luke version of the birth of Jesus is the most detailed of all the gospel stories and the most popular. It is a beautiful re-tale of the love of God coming to earth, demonstrating Jesus’ humanity and his vulnerability. For what could be more vulnerable than a new born baby, birthed in a rented barn; in an unfamiliar small town. But the greatest beauty of all is the intentions of the Father being played out in the lives of the most unlikely characters as He lays out for us His divine plan.

If we look closely, we see ourselves in the faces of this love story. Mary was a young girl, probably between the age of thirteen and seventeen. She had received word from a strange visitor, in the middle of the night, that she was pregnant and the child was the son of God; and she believed it. We are so much like Mary. In the middle of our darkest night a word is given, we believe it, and life is born “Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,”

Can you imagine being Joseph, the promised husband of Mary? For a year Joseph had been preparing to bring his promised bride to his home to be husband and wife; but before he had finished his preparations he gets word that his fiancé is pregnant and he knows he is not the father. How often do we draw up in our minds, and lay out in our imaginations the plans and intentions of our lives, only to get word that all we had hoped for is lost; gone forever; our hopes having been crushed, and all of our dreams having been taken away?

But God never leaves us in our desperation. No, it is in that hopelessness that we find our greatest hope. Joseph gets word, in a dream, the truth of Mary’s circumstance. He is instructed to take her to be his wife. He follows his instructions.  In our desperation we find our true purpose. Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Jeremiah 29:11 ‘”For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “‘

God did not go to the seat of power to bring about his government. God did not go to the wealthy and the elite to demonstrate his purpose. God went to the willing. He went to the vulnerable; to the most unloved. It was to the shepherd that He chose to herald His good news. And not just any shepherds, but the lowliest of all the shepherds; the nightshift crew.

Am I willing to become so vulnerable? Can I ever be like Mary or Joseph and say yes to such improbable ideas; such impossible circumstances. Am I willing to humble myself in preparations for a herald from the Lord? I think my best hope for such a heavenly assignment must be an emptying of myself and a willingness to no other reply but yes.