Messy Miracles

Scripture

Luke 2:1–20 NLT

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Let me share with you for a few minutes about the miracle of the birth of Jesus. It was a miracle and as beautiful as it was, there were some messy parts of story as well.

The reason I say that is because often times we read the Christmas story like it was this perfect storybook ending with no plot twists and we end up with a sanitized version of an otherwise very unpleasant birth experience.

We end up taking our interpretation of the story and thinking to ourselves, “How does this perfect story apply to me?” when really, the Christmas story should bring us hope! Because in the middle of a messy story, Jesus, the hope of the world, the prince of peace, is born. There is hope in the middle of this mess.

From the beginning of this story way past where we stop reading for Christmas, this is a story of inconveniences.

They had to go to Bethlehem for the census.

Mary had to ride a donkey for over 100 miles nine months pregnant through the desert.

They had to pre plan for a birth because they knew the time would come while they were their.

Joseph lost the AirBnB reservation.

They settled, not for a motel 6, but a cave where animals fed.

There was no crib, there was no bed, so rather than placing the baby on a cold stone floor, Mary put Jesus in a trough.

Even after the story ends with the shepherds returning home, Joseph gets woken up in a dream is told by an angel to flee to Egypt so Jesus is killed. I mean this trip was a mess.

The thing that jumped out at me this year as I have been studying was the multiple mentions of swaddling cloths.

Mary wrapped him in these cloths, the angels told the shepherds that these would be the sign that this is the messiah. It was also a sign that Mary was an attentive mother.

The forethought that went into making sure she had everything to wrap the baby and care for him is proof that God chose a loving parent to care for His son.

These cloths that are mentioned were a traditional Hebrew way of wrapping a newborn. Often times these cloths were actually used in the marriage ceremony to tie the hands of the bride and groom together, signifying their covenant to each other. They would keep these cloths and use them in the birth of their children to signal that they too were covered by covenant love. There is even evidence of expectant mothers taking the cloths and sowing into them the family seal to show belonging, even as an infant.

So then she takes these cloths and lays him in a trough. Maybe Joseph cleaned it out, but aside from wiping it with some hay or spare rags, I don’t assume he was able to get all of the messy food, or worse, out of it.

This is state of the cave when Jesus is revealed to the world as the Son of God.

My worry is that we read this story and think to ourselves that we must clean up our act, get our life together and have everything in line for Jesus to act on our behalf; for God to move in our lives. The truth is, Jesus has been handling messes like you and me for a long time and the way he came to earth is proof of that.

Jesus didn’t wait to come until the conditions were right. He didn’t even come when it was a good time. He chose the inopportune time, and things were going crazy. Thats his sweet spot.

He meets us all in the middle of our mess and sometimes he cleans the mess, sometimes he redeems it, and sometimes he removes us from it entirely, but hear me: He never waits for the mess to gone.

From the first breath He took as a human, He has been meeting us in our mess.

Emmanuel doesn’t mean “God with us after we got our stuff together”, it means “God with us HERE, NOW”

There are a million little messes that we live through all the time and sometimes we see them, and other times He goes before us and cleans up a mess before we get to it. That’s called sanctification. That’s called grace.

But this year, as we focus on the miracle of Jesus birth, lets not forget the million little miracles that get overlooked so easy. It’s a miracle Mary had the patience to ride the donkey that pregnant. Its a miracle there was a trough for Jesus to lay in, in stead of being placed on the ground. It’s a miracle you’re already free because He came that way. Its a miracle you’re here today because of His life and death. You yourself are a hand-knit miracle!

There is another overlooked meaning of the cloths though. It was a foreshadowing of cloths that would be wrapped around Jesus in the tomb thirty three years later as He died for your mess. He wasn’t just born for it, He died for it. The cloths that they used to bury Him I’m sure reminded Mary of the night they spent in the cave just staring at their little miracle.

Now as she stands at the tomb of the miracle she remembers what the shepherds said they had heard from the angles, “The (Mess)iah is born and this will be a sign to you, you will find wrapped snugly in cloths lying in a manger.” And here it’s her turn to find her son, the Messiah, wrapped snugly in cloths lying in a cave.

We have the benefit of reading this whole story, looking back on all the little messy miracles that Mary could have missed. She lived this so she couldn’t see the outcome. We can. But we can’t see all the messy miracles Jesus is working on for us in our everyday lives now.

*Million Little Miracles*

Don’t miss the messy miracle of Christmas. Jesus came an inconvenient time to make a way for you to get to the Father. Your mess isn’t an obstacle, it’s an invitation.

Let this be the moment you let Him turn your mess into a miracle.

If you want to do that, all you have to do is say this prayer with me:

Dear Jesus,

Please come into my life

Forgive me of my sin

(The things You call wrong)

Help me to live for You.

Make me like You.

I believe You are the Son of God

I believe You can turn my mess

Into a miracle.

Amen.

If you just said that for the first time, I want to welcome you to the family. There is really no better moment to give your life to Him than this one. We are so proud of you.

If you would like more information about this decision, would you contact us? Put it in the chat, or send us a DM. We want to get you a bible and walk with you through this journey you’ve just started.

For all of you watching, thank you for your spending a few moments with us to celebrate today. We’re honored you would watch with us. We love you and we are praying for you.