The Miracle in the Mess

Yesterday our pastor preached a sermon that was such a wonderful new touch to the Christmas story.  The title of his message was "The Miracle in the Mess".  He shared that the first Christmas was a mess!  It included an unexpected pregnancy, unprecedented experiences, unscheduled visitors, unavoidable threat, unwelcome arrivals, unfamiliar territory and an uncertain future.  He's going to do a series in the next four weeks, all related to that first Christmas.  The next three weeks he'll talk about the matrimonial mess, the money mess and the military mess.  But yesterday he talked about the "Mute Mess"...and that prior to Christ's arrival God had been silent for 400 years.  He shared that after that long period of silence many folks weren't listening for the right kind of noise.  He shared that the first Christmas was not the absence of noise, but a turning of the heart to the right noise...and that it's not the absence of noise in our lives but it's the noise we're listening to.  What appeared to be God's absence from the world was really a time of preparation for something He'd never done before.  The Romans were conquering the known world at the time...building roads, developing a common language (both spoken and written).  Without the roads and language, it would have been almost impossible for the church to grow.

Brad explained that when it appears God is silent in a situation in our lives that there is a way to live through His preparation period and silence.  We need to put "time" into perspective.  What we think of as an unbearable and painful situation may only be a blink in the timeline of eternity.  Brad shared that we need to put faith outside of ourselves and allow others to help and encourage us.  He shared that Mary received her encouragement about her situation from her cousin Elizabeth.  Joseph received his encouragement from an angel in a dream.  The wise men had a star to lead them to the miracle.  The shepherds heard the angels.  If they'd all been depending on themselves they would have only remained discouraged.  Finally he shared that we have to release control.  We cannot control our circumstances, and the sooner we realize that the easier it is to release control.  But...we can choose how we're going to respond to our circumstances.  It begins with a decision...a choice on our part to trust God and submit to His work in our lives.

During the time of preparation God is preparing the people.  We have to give God permission for a mystery...we don't have to know everything but we have to trust that He does.  We need to understand that the miracle is ALWAYS beyond our ability...because if it isn't, then it's not a miracle (duh...my comment).  And the key to being prepared is submission.  We have to say, "Okay", to God without questioning (I don't know about you, but that's the hard part for me).  Mary was asked to just carry the baby...something women do.  She submitted.  Joseph was asked to just be there.  He submitted.  The wise men were asked to follow the star.  They submitted.  The shepherds submitted and decided to just do what the angels said.  Submission brought all of them together to see the miracle of God. Finally, we have to recognize the Source...God is always the Source of the miracle.  Miracles never source themselves in the recipient - always in the One Who's greater.

This message was such a fresh breath on the old story of this special time of year that I wanted to share it with those who read this so they could be blessed as I was blessed.  I praise God that He still works miracles out of the mess of our lives.  I love the Christmas season...not the commercialization, but the opportunity to reflect on how much God must love us to have designed not only a world for us to live in, but a relationship for us to flourish in because we’re children of the King.  May you hear the “right noise” this Christmas and know that God is at work!