Advent - do you see what I see?
Read - Matthew 2:1-12
“When the Magi saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him”
Reflect - God works with unlikely people
What do you see in the nativity narrative? Some versions tend to put a sugar-coated shine on the story which makes it difficult to really see what’s going on. The reality is that Mary and Joseph are fairly insignificant peasant nobodies who, thanks to their premarital pregnancy, already have a questionable reputation… and yet this is the couple God vulnerably entrusts himself to. In the Old Testament, Moses is a murderous exile who has married a non-Israelite and is terrible at public speaking. In both instances, these are hardly the people you would normally ask to handle your most important business. And these are the ones in the stories with names! In both stories are other, seemingly insignificant characters, who don’t get proper mentions but who are crucial to them: Moses’ faithful parents and aunt protect him from the genocide of Pharaoh, and the Wise-men who through their obedience to God and their avoidance of Herod help protect Jesus from his genocide too. We hear little more about them. Both stories reveal to us how God invites everyone, including unlikely people, to play a surprising role in his story.
It’s really common, especially at this time of year which typically revolves around family and friends and community, to feel insignificant. To ask ‘does my life even matter?’ ‘Would anyone care if I wasn’t here?!’ The nation’s favourite Christmas film, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is about a man asking exactly that question. In that film, and the Old Testament, and Matthew’s gospel, the answering is a thunderous, unreserved “YES!” Moses asked “who am I?” and yet God’s includes him in the story. Mary is recorded as asking much the same question and God includes her too.
As we read the nativity narrative and allow ourselves to think ‘I’ve come across this somewhere before’ we remember that God is showing us something about himself. God has certain ways of how he engages in the world, there are consistent patterns to his work. As we become familiar with his ways by reflecting on them throughout the bible, we can better look for and recognise when he is at work in our lives today as ‘Emmanuel, God with us’.
Respond
Given the increased isolation this year, maybe you have felt as though there have been times when you have been unseen or ignored. You might feel like you are a nameless, faceless person, but without the nameless, faceless Hebrews there was no exodus, no establishment of a nation, and ultimately no Jesus. Each of their cries, each of their lives, mattered to God. You might feel like the Magi, on the fringes of things, nameless, faceless, searching, questioning, not even really feeling part of God’s community, and yet God invites you into his story as well. The nativity teaches us that even the unlikely characters get to meet the Messiah and that everyone matters. Even if you discount yourself, or other’s discount you, know that God doesn’t. You are seen. You are significant. God is with you.
Christmas provides an opportunity to appreciate others. Who can you take time to recognise this week? Is there someone who needs to be noticed who you can take time to include this Christmas?