At Bible Study this week, a friend described the tension of Christmas: “We have family together and we want to share Christ’s love and demonstrate the peace He brings us, and yet we are family with issues, differences and conflict.” Thinking about his comments, I remembered Mary and Joseph arriving at their home town for the census- Mary having walked a hundred miles, three months married and nine months pregnant, and no-one in their family welcoming them and the inn being full. Let’s talk about the family issues here. But this is the world into which God sent His Son. He could have looked at the human family and said, “I am staying out of this one.” But He didn’t. He chose to show up, to be here. This is the key. The tension of Christmas IS the wonder of Christmas. The fact that we show up and argue shows us something about God’s love. The fact that we can’t show up or refuse to show up tells us something more about God’s love. The kind of brokenness that you have is the same kind into which Messiah chose to come. The flaws are not signs of some failure on God’s part. They are measuring gauges of the depth of His love.
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