Tell me the story again
Matthew 1: 18, This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.An incredible, fantastic story-stated by Matthew as an absolute, irrefutable fact. This is how Jesus the Messiah was born….and then he launches into the extravagant story.We have heard it, haven't we? “I've heard that one already,” we say. It's familiar, and what is familiar often lacks novelty and cogency. Proof? We travel hundreds of miles away from home (Alabama) and “ooh and ah” over trees / rocks / water, when all of those things are a stone's throw from our homes. The same amazing beauty surrounds us, but it has become familiar to us, so we tend not to notice or to be astounded. (Little River Canyon is just as beautiful as Gatlinburg--and a whole lot closer to home!)Baby Jesus. A crèche. Christmas plays. Christmas carols. Seen it. Heard it. Read it. Know it. But do we really? My challenge leading up to Christmas is to re-read the story as if we are hearing it for the first time. It may be helpful to “enter” into the story by assuming the roles of each of the characters. Try being Mary and consenting to have a baby conceived by supernatural means! We do realize that that's only happened ONCE in the history of the world! Try being Joseph and having to hear that your fiancé is pregnant-by Yahweh!And as you do this, remember that Matthew is telling us that this IS EXACTLY THE WAY THINGS HAPPENED. Facts. Not fairy tales. Truth unfolding, precisely as the prophets had foretold. Amazing! AMAZING! This is our faith, yours and mine, a magnificent Gift centuries old-but just as relevant now as then. Oh, the glory of it all!Let's not allow our familiarity with the story rob us of its fantastical nature; rather, let's revel in the extraordinariness of it all as we celebrate our God coming to live among us!Abba Father, thank You for preserving this great story for us; heal our eyes that we may see this as the incredible mystery that it is, so that our faith may be enlivened and that our hearts may truly rejoice! Amen.