Merry Messy Christmas

Have you ever been over to a friend’s house to eat and the food just ain’t no good? I mean the macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mush and the chicken tastes like wood. (Sugar Hill Gang 1979)

Those words from the first rap song I ever heard still crack me up. It doesn’t matter if you’re the host or the guest, it’s a messy and awkward scene. Clearly things haven’t worked out like you planned.

Some of you are thinking, “That’s the story of my life these days. Things certainly haven’t worked out like I’ve planned.” Family relationships are a mess. My job/joblessness is a source of stress. And every time you turn around something reminds you of an aching loss. Not only is Christmas not going to be the merry that it was, it’s a mess that you’re hoping will be over soon.

Maybe this kind of disruption is just what you need in order to hear the story of Christmas with fresh ears and receive new hope and fresh faith.

We’ve done a good job of making Christmas a lot more glamorous and picture perfect than it actually was. The truth is that the first Christmas came in a context of darkness, uncertainty, fear, and confusion.

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury reminds us, “The story of the first Christmas is the story of a series of completely unplanned, messy events – a surprise pregnancy, an unexpected journey that’s got to be made, a complete muddle over the hotel accommodation when you get there . . . Not exactly a perfect holiday.”

If we spend time asking God for favors that will make our life easier, we’ve missed the point of following Jesus. Sure, no one likes the kind of mess and loss that seems magnified this time of the year. But God’s invitation is for us to enter His story – not a promise that He’ll make our stories less difficult.

It struck me so deeply this past Sunday in worship as we were listening to the story of Mary’s visit with her cousin Elizabeth found in Luke chapter 1. God invited both these women to enter His redemptive story to save the world. Both would be “blessed” by having sons who would die violent deaths because they were willing to say “Yes!” to God’s invitation.

Isn’t that interesting? Mary and Elizabeth didn’t have an easier life because they said yes to God’s proposal. Who knows, they may have suffered less or more if they had ignored God’s angel. But when they said, “Yes,” their mess, their uncertainty, their confusion got wrapped up in God’s great story of salvation for the world. Their mess became a source of hope because it was now co-opted by God! God has this amazing track record for taking messes we make and turning them into something surprisingly good.

Whether you follow Jesus or you follow your own best ideas about how to live, you are going to deal with a mess. I’m so glad God gives us the option and invitation to live in a mess that will one day be seen as good news of great joy.

As Rowan Williams signed off on a recent BBC radio program he said, “I’m never sure whether to wish anyone a peaceful Christmas, because it hardly ever is. But I can wish you joy in the midst of the mess, and every blessing from the God of ordinary, untidy, surprising things.”

Merry Messy Christmas and every blessing from the God of ordinary, untidy and surprising things.