The Bewildered Chosen
Timothy Lamb
Blessings in Christmas and all the year, in Christ,
Tim
Invited to the First Christmas – The Bewildered Chosen
Nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens but what God allows. I
believe God put Christmas where He did to bless us. The time of year
and the weather ahead just cries for a blessing. We should celebrate
Christmas to bless God. Let the secular holiday go - let them have
fun – praise the Lord God for sending His Son that the Man could die
for men and the God could raise for Gods glory.
The Christmas story is good for teaching any time of the year. It
tells obviously of Immanuel, the day God became a man – the
fulfillment of prophecy – our clear vision of God in Christ and the
perfect plan of God unfolding in the victory of the Cross. But there
is more…
In the Christmas story is the highly concentrated message of a theme
consistent throughout scripture - the comforting profundity that God
can and will use anybody to work His perfect will and the more inept
the more He can use you.
Think of it! It begins with a teenage pregnancy and accusations of
infidelity and adultery – questions of morality surround the birth of
the Prince of Righteousness. A bewildering situation for a lower
middleclass family of average intellect and worry and doubt to adjust
to while contemplating strange happenings such as visits from Gabriel
and possibly another “Angel of the Lord”; Mary’s Cousin Elisabeth
giving birth in her advanced age and “visitations” involved with that;
visitations of angels to the shepherd and later to the Magi reveal
God’s hand in the midst of a most unlikely assemblage of the common
and the un-common. After reading the Christmas story there is no
excuse for the thought that God could not or would not use someone
like you.
Imagine a young couple who dreamed of having a normal family and
attending feasts and visiting the temple and suddenly they have an
“illegitimate” son whose coming was heralded by angels. And the
parents of the bride who anticipate the mob that will come for their
pregnant daughter to stone her – their dreams of grandchildren
seemingly snuffed out.
But for whatever reason this was the entry God chose for the Savior of
the world. And so God brings comfort to the couple and gives the
Christ Child a full set of parents, filled with trepidation though
they may be. He gets them out of town for a while with the census
there-by allowing the smoke to clear but where does God take them but
a stable to complete the glorious occasion amongst animals and smelly,
lowlife shepherds (and maybe a drummer boy but no proof to that
legend). Who in attendance would have guessed that kings would
eventually fret over that day.
So who in this story is special? Who came into this with special
skills? Who among them thought themselves worthy of taking part in
the event that would change mankind and his relationship with God
forever? Who saw a “New Covenant” coming and said “I want a piece of
this!”? But each was handpicked to attend the joyous event without
the slightest idea why.
Why on earth did He choose such a motley crew to pull off this
miraculous event? Perhaps to confuse the Devil? Perhaps to send a
message to future followers of Christ that His greatest tool isn’t
power but grace and His most delicate plans require nothing more than
a willing heart and a trusting soul.
The Christmas story reminds us that our humble response to the
calamities and confusion of life might just be God’s great work being
accomplished. Great things that confuse men change the world.
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