Messy

 

This week begins Advent. As a time of devotional, my church will be reading a chapter from Luke each day.  The twenty four chapters will take us through Advent and ultimately the life of Christ. What better way to celebrate Christ’s birth than to understand His life and also His death.

Today being the 2^nd of December, brings us to the second chapter of Luke; the birth of Jesus, introduction to the shepherds and angels, then His presentation at the temple. Chapter one brought the introduction of John the Baptist, Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary and the Archangel Gabriel! Chapter two also brings us the Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise.

There is so much in each of these chapters to sit with and ponder. It seems like I have covered so much ground in these two days! And although I have read Luke many times, something struck me as this story unfolded.

We always depict this story with beauty and an element of tidiness. I look around and see all the pretty “Nativity scenes” I’ve collected through the years. Jesus tucked away in his bed as others gather around Him. (Gentle shepherds, surrounded by cute sheep with an angel standing over them with a shimmering glow.) You know the scene.

But that’s not the true nativity at all. I’m sure that manger or cave that Jesus was delivered in smelt pretty strongly of animal feces. I have a feeling no matter how well Mary and Joseph tried to “straighten things up”, the musty dust of rancid hay still hung in the air. Ever visit a barn? Even the most diligent of barn keepers will tell you-“where there are animals… there are always strong odors.”

Before we even get to THAT scene though, we need to go back to Mary finding out she’s pregnant. She’s a virgin. “How can this happen?” she asks. She’s simply told that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her.

It’s not mentioned how, many in her community, might never buy the whole Immaculate Conception story. She will probably be looked at as a harlot to some. It’s never mentioned that she would be at risk of being stoned…or in the least divorced by her “betrothed”; but I get the impression that Mary is very astute. I believe she’s very much aware of all the messiness that is about to occur in her life.  This young girl whose somewhere between 13-16 years old will be taking on the task of giving birth to the Son of God. No pressure, right?

After the angel tells Mary all that is to happen, her response is nothing less than incredible, (all things previously mentioned and considered!) Mary responds, “I am the Lords servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” It says “And then the angel left.”

No one asked her opinion. No one checked with her availability, and the angel didn’t stick around to comfort her. Imagine how alone with that information she might have felt? She’d have to tell her parents, her family….and Joseph, the man she was engaged to.

But Mary responds that she is the Lords servant and freely accepts Gods direction for her life.  I’m sure this wasn’t the life she had planned or imagined. It certainly wasn’t going to look (or smell) like the manger scene that sits two feet away from me as I type this.

Two words keep coming to mind as I work my way through Luke. Messy is certainly one of them. The other word is SURRENDER.

If we know anything about surrender we know that there is no room for ego in it. There’s no room for “My way” “My plans” “My” anything. A state of surrender is when we take ourselves out of the equation all together. In the context of faith it’s when we not only take ourselves out of the equation, but we surrender to someone far greater than ourselves. God.

We realize that the big picture of our lives isn’t ‘our lives’ at all. It’s our lives in the context of who God created us to be. It’s understanding that everything we do stems back to a higher source. That each decision or action in its final application, not be for US at all……but for Him; for God.

As I continued to read, this messy theme of surrender became more and more pronounced. John the Baptist comes into the picture and we again see a life of sacrifice unfolding. A life sacrificed and surrendered to someone far greater than John himself. 

Then we have the dirty shepherds who were considered the lowest in society. (Another element of the story that we sterilize and romanticize.) These shepherds are visited by none-other than angels! The shepherds go and visit the Christ child there in the dirty manger! (I’m guessing they didn’t pick up on the smell!)

Then these shepherds, who were thought to be less than civilized told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this new born child; and interestingly enough... it says that “All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished.”

So Gods son is born in an animal lodging, with a pungent smell in there air. The savior’s very first visitors are shepherds who didn’t even have a chance to clean themselves up (because it says that as soon as the angels left, they hurried to the village and found Mary, Joseph and the baby.)

Messy surrender around every corner of this story.

Can we say that about our lives? We might account for some messy times of our lives. We might be able to say that we’ve walked through some situations that were far from sanitized or romanticized; but can we say we walk with surrender?

Do we live our lives with the posture of Mary? Do we say “I am the Lord’s servant”, or do we, more often, dig our heals in and fight for what WE want?

In this passage we can easily pass over that part about the people being astonished at the story of the shepherds. For them to be astonished implies that they listened to them. They heard them, the shepherds, those lowly people who were considered “less than”.  

Do we “hear” others when they speak or try to share with us? Or do we live our lives disqualifying voices other than our own? Those people would have truly missed out on something remarkable if they hadn't listened in that moment! What are we missing out on in our stubbornness?

Messy Surrender.

We can try to sanitize and romanticize our lives just like those mangers we put up each Christmas. We can try and position the pieces of our lives just right, and set them out for all to see. The thing is, is just as we know the truth behind the Nativity Scene (the messiness, the smell, the reality) we also know the truth behind our lives. And guess what? God does too. But God is in the business of getting messy. If the story of Christ doesn’t prove that to us, I don’t know what can.

What jumped out at me on these first few pages of Luke was that we must live our lives in messy surrender to the One who makes all things new. We have to stop digging our  heals in, and living lives that are only out for ourselves. We need to put our perspectives in check and see the big picture.

This messy life isn’t meant to glorify you, or me. It’s meant to glorify God.

So join me this Advent as we walk through the mess together. A time where we check our egos and expectations at the door; a place where we truly hear the voice of God speaking into our lives. A time of surrender. Messy surrender

Gods voice has been speaking to us through the ages.

“But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.”-Isaiah 43:9

My prayer is that we have the same response as Mary when God steps into our messy lives…. “I am the Lords servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

 

-Pastor Patti