Have you ever been around large animals?
When my husband and I were newly married, he would work an event at the state fairgrounds once a year. He worked on the production side of a youth expo that involved the showing of animals. I could go into greater detail here, but if you are anything like me back then, you will hear, “animals, animals, animals… lights…. winners announced… animals, animals, animals.”
I did a lot of smiling and nodding the first few years when I had no clue what my husband was talking about. Proof of how little I understood came the day I decided to visit him. He was down on the arena floor working on the computer power point that displayed each round’s winners.
When I arrived, he smiled at me and sort of shook his head. I decided to dress like I did every day that spring… in my flip flops and tank top and shorts. I might as well have worn a space suit into a business meeting, because let me tell you, I was out of place.
There was poop everywhere. It smelled. As I walked through the areas where animals were being washed, my sparkly little flip-flops splashed dirty water all over the back of my white shorts. Did I mention my shorts were white?!
“Haven’t you ever been around animals?” I remember my husband asking.
The obvious answer was, “no.”
This year, as I was telling my children the nativity story, I stopped at the part where Mary and Joseph entered the stable for the night.
I imagine Mary wasn’t a city girl like me. I have a feeling she had been around an animal or two. But I have to think that when the angel Gabriel told her that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah, she had to be imagining some better birthing conditions.
I thought back to the day that I was in the pungent, loud, state fair barn and tried to picture Mary’s response.
“Ummm… Are we sure there isn’t a birthing suite available? No? A barn? Is this really how this is going to happen? With animals? Alright, well… someone clear away a little of that poop. Let’s have us a Savior.”
How many times have you looked at a nativity scene and thought about the barn? Not the cute straw roof barn with the little plastic star on top that sits on your nana’s dining room table. I’m talking about the dark, musty, cave where travelers kept their animals for the night.
It is the reality of the story, and it is absolutely like Jesus. He showed us just how much He loves us when He chose to be born in the place where animals were kept.
Because if hope can enter the world in the nastiest, smelliest, gloomiest place, it means that there is hope for us too. It means that hope can be born in the worst of conditions. The hope of Christmas isn’t just for those around the twinkling lights and a warm fire. The hope of Christmas is for those in the darkest places. It is for those who do not know the Truth. The world is so close to the truth of salvation at Christmas. The world wants to believe that there is something sacred about the birth of Jesus… if we could only use the opportunity to lead them the rest of the way towards redemption.
With a million reminders not to miss Christ in the business of Christmas, here is one more.
May the presence of Jesus fill your hearts with hope. May the peace of our Savior carry you through the season with the sweetness of His love. May the joy of the Lord shine through every encounter drawing others into the love that is available to them as well.
Hope has come to the world, and He lives in us. Let us lift the Light of Salvation a little higher this Christmas season.
