The Nature of the Nativity: Day 8 - The Stable

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, when we finish this post, we will be past the halfway mark. Its hard to believe that one week from today is Christmas. I guess I should figure out what to get my wife as a present. Just kidding, I now what I'm getting her; I just have to actually go get it. Anyway, enough about me for now, let's continue setting up our nativity. Today we're having a good ole fashioned barn raisin'! Get it? A stable holds animals, and a barn holds...never mind. Let's get a roof over Mary and Joseph's head.

Go ahead and grab your Bible, and turn to Luke 2:1-7. I know we've read parts of this already, but today we are going to look at it from a different angle:

"1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." New International Version 

"she gave birth..."

Put yourself in Joseph's shoes for a bit. One day, out of the blue, a Roman official descends on your little town and decrees that everyone must go back to their ancestral hometown to be counted so that Caesar can make sure he is getting enough tax money. How happy are you? How much worse does it make it that you have an extremely pregnant wife? Now factor in that your ancestral hometown is over 70 miles away. How happy are you now? I'm going to step out on a limb and say that Joseph was probably extremely irritated about the whole affair. I can imagine the smallest details and mishaps set him to grumbling and griping. I see it while he packs the bags a little too roughly. I hear it when the donkey stumbles and he mutters Caesar's name under his breath. I feel it as he stomps from house to house trying to find a room for his wife. And I definitely see it in the slump of his shoulders as he looks at the walls of a stable while the midwife helps his wife deliver. Can you hear his inaudible question? Why is all this happening to me? Why does my wife have to deal with this? Why does everything seem to be working against us? I know I'm taking some creative license with this, but it is how I would feel. I'm pretty sure it's how most of us would feel. But there's an important spiritual truth that we find in scripture that is applicable for Joseph and for us; just because life isn't going well, it doesn't mean God isn't working. 

It's easy to assume that because things aren't going well, we have lost God's favor. But that isn't the case at all. As we've discussed in an earlier post, bad things happen because there is sin in the world. As long as we are on this side of heaven, bad things are going to happen to the good and the bad alike. Bad things happening aren't always a sign of God removing His hand from us. Good things happening aren't always a sign that God's is pleased with us. God cannot be contained in the little boxes that we try to shove Him in. He is not one dimensional like a super hero movie character. One of my favorite quotes from C. S. Lewis comes from the first book in "Chronicles of Narnia". Someone asked if Aslan the lion (the God /Jesus parallel) was safe. The response was that of course He wasn't safe, but He is good. I love that line, because it is so accurately describes the God I read about in the Bible. There is nothing safe about the Almighty God. But He is wonderfully good, and He loves us sinful humans deeply. As complex as we are, I would dare say that God is infinitely more complex. And if He is more complex, then the way He does things must be more complex also. At our best, we can juggle a few things and make them work the way we want to. There's only so much we can handle before we start losing track of things and our plans start to unravel. God doesn't have this problem. Look at Romans 8:28:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." NIV

 Paul says that God makes all things work for good. Notice Paul didn't use the words nice or pleasant or even safe, but he did say good. Notice also that he didn't say good things would happen, but that what does happen can work for the good of those who love God. For instance, there is nothing nice or pleasant about punishing your children, but it is for their good. I had my share of punishments, and I can honestly say that though I didn't like it at the time, it was good for me. But I am talking about more than isolated incidences with your children, God has the ability to weave His will and work for good in and through multiple lives and across years to accomplish the things He wants to. There is a story about another Joseph that illustrates how awesome God is when it comes to working good out of all things. I'm not going to put all the scripture here because it involves chapters of the book of Genesis, but I will bullet the high points. I encourage you to read Genesis 37-50 for the entire story.

Joseph was sold into slavery.

• Seventeen year old Joseph was a tattle tale in regards to his brothers, and thought he was better than them because of dreams he had and because he was the favorite.
• Josephs older brothers disliked Jospeh because of how he acted and because he was obviously their father's favorite.
• One day they grabbed him, threw him into a well, and eventually sold him into slavery.
• Joseph was sold to an Egyptian official and rose quickly in the household to become the head of the house. Potiphar left everything up to Joseph, and God made him prosper.
• Potiphar's wife wanted to sleep with Joesph and tried to command him to "meet" with her day after day. One day she cornered him and he fled leaving his cloak behind, so she accused him of trying to rape her. Joseph got thrown into prison.
• Jospeh rose quickly in the prison until he was put in charge of everything in the prison by the warden. God gave Joseph success in whatever he did.
• Pharaoh got mad at his baker and his butler and sent them to prison. They each had dreams that God interpreted through Joseph. The baker would die in three days, and the butler would be returned to the palace in three days. Joseph asked the butler to remember him when he gets out, but the butler forgets.
• Two years later, Pharaoh has a dream that Joseph interprets. There will be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph tells Pharaoh that he should put someone in charge to collect food during the good years to have enough for the bad years.
• Pharaoh makes Joseph second in charge in the land and instructs him to take care of stockpiling food.
• Once the famine hits, Jospeh's brothers come to Egypt looking for food. Joseph recognizes them, accuses them of being spies, puts one of them in prison, and says they must bring back their remaining brother Benjamin to him if they ever want to see the one in prison again.
• The brother's return with their youngest brother, but Joseph tested them by hiding a silver cup in Benjamin's sack of grain. He send his guards to bring them back. The brother's offered to stay in Benjamin's place.
• Joseph sees that his brothers are changed men and he reveals himself.

Josep reveals himself.

I summarized the story for you so that Joseph's next words could be understood in light of all that had happened. Read what he told his brothers in Genesis 45:5-8:

"5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt." NIV

Oh that I would have the grace and understanding that Joseph did. In spite of all the horrid  things that had happened to him, he still saw God's hand moving in the background. Did he always know what God was trying to do? I don't think so. But he never lost his faith; he never gave up. We see that in his words and deeds as a slave when he had nothing else to lose. Even when everything was going wrong, Joseph still looked to God and believed in Him.

Let's go back to our nativity story. Turn to the book Micah and read what is written in Micah 5:2:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,    though you are small among the clans of Judah,out of you will come for me    one who will be ruler over Israel,whose origins are from of old,    from ancient times.” NIV

These words were written some 600 years before Jesus was born in that stable in Bethlehem. God spoke through His prophet centuries before, proclaiming where the Messiah would be born. Now there are two ways to look at it. One, God knew what Caesar was going to decree and prophesied about it. Or two, God made Caesar decree what he did so that the prophecy would come true. Regardless of which one you pick, God was working everything out for good. Was the journey difficult? Yes. Would it have been easier in Nazareth? Yes. Could God have worked it out so Jesus was born in Nazareth? Of course. But He did it this way. Why? I have no idea...but He's God, and I'm not. Though He's not safe, He is good. Though the road may be difficult, it leads to where He wants me to be, and that's where I want to be. Though the storms may rage, He walks beside me all the way, and I love Him all the more for that.

So let's take our stable and set it up. Let it be a reminder to you this Christmas season that God works all things for the good of those who love Him. Even when life is tough, God will work it out. The catch is...you have to be one of His and keep your eyes on Him. See you tomorrow!

Day 8 - The Stable

*All scripture taken from the New International Version.