God With Me

As I read through the accounts Matthew and Luke give of the Christmas story again this morning, my eyes glided and skipped over the familiar words even as my mind recited them. It is a story that I memorized many times over in my childhood. It is a story that is often told, expounded upon, and thought about, especially at this time of year.

This story of the birth of Christ includes a grand cast of characters, and yet as I read that same old story again this morning, it struck me that there are really only two kinds of people.

First, there are those who believed, those who accepted, those who allowed the truth to change their lives. There is, of course, Mary. Simple, unassuming Mary – whose only response to the news of her unfathered child was, “Be it unto me according to thy word.” Did she know just how different her life would be with the acceptance of this task? How much she would be shunned and ridiculed? How much pain she would endure? How much blessing she would have? How miraculous and incomprehensible this Child’s birth would be?

There is also Joseph, a good, just man. He also did not question the angel, but simply accepted the truth that he was given. He became a patient protector of Mary and the Baby, aiding them in the necessary journey to Bethlehem and seeing to their safety from Herod.

There are the shepherds who were not content to sit in the fields with the news. They had to see for themselves, and then, they had to publish the news abroad.

There are the wise men who traveled for years, following a star which had an unknown destination. Some would call them foolish, others would call them daft, yet their final stopping place brought them to a King greater than all others.

There are Simeon and Anna, Elisabeth and Zechariah, and countless unnamed others who took the truth they were given and believed – allowing it to change their lives.

Then there are the second group of people – the unbelieving, the skeptical, the selfish...those whose unbelief had a negative impact on their lives. Of course, we think of Herod, who in his selfishness and cruelty killed all baby boys under the age of two.

I find it interesting that God records Herod as the only specific unbelieving character in this story. We know there were more – family members, friends, people in the villages. People were quick with their gossip and cruel with their tongues, but in the grand scheme of things, those people don’t matter. What we ought to rejoice in and pattern our lives after are those who believed and accepted, those who allowed God to change them and change the world.

The question comes down to this: Which one are you? Have you allowed the truth God has given you to change your life? Or are you holding back, skeptical and unwilling to put your faith in something unseen?

There are so many characters, so many facets in this story – and yet one overarching theme of “Emmanuel” – God with us. I thought for some time about this Emmanuel. I wondered again at the fact that God would deign to come be with us. To leave all, in order to save us. That He would come in the form of a baby – not in the form of a mighty ruler and king, not in the form of a lawgiver, but in the form of a child who was destined for the cross. I thought about the fact that even if I was the only one who needed saving, He would have gladly done it all for ME. He is God with me – He has been my God from the quiet town of Emmaus, Pennsylvania to the teeming city of Bangkok, Thailand, to the crime-ridden country of South Africa, and now through this faith-stretching time in Francistown, Botswana. I am humbled that this Jesus would seek me, and want to have a relationship with me.

“For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.” (Lk 1:49)

"The Lord hath done great things for (me); whereof (I) am glad." (Ps 126:3)