Nicole Kropf

Christmas has become a colourful and busy blur of activty. And while I am here for just about all of the magic of the season, I’m always brought to tears when I sit in the silence and reflect on the Christmas story. Most of us are at least familiar with the nativity story. We can picture the quaint stable scene with a tiny Jesus in the manger, mother Mary looking on with Joseph proudly standing by. We can imagine shepherds in their field, frightened by the light of an angelic sky. We can see the new shiny star that guides the wise men by night. It’s a beautiful story if nothing more.

But I think it is more. The Christmas story never fails to grab hold of my heart and wrap me in emotion for a few different reasons. First, the story of Jesus birth beautifully portrays the reality that He steps into the mess of our lives. Jesus- King of kings wasn’t born into a palace surrounded with warmth and riches. He was born into a stable, his new born flesh wrapped and placed in a manger. We don’t receive all of the details but I imagine this stable to be home to animals…and their filth.

He didn’t come the way we might expect. God brought His son – love given breath – directly into a literal mess. If this isn’t a glorious image of WHO Jesus is, I don’t know what is! Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. He doesn’t draw near only when things in our life are neat and tidy. He doesn’t expect to enter in only if we’ve tucked our sin away and scrubbed our image up. He enters with us into the filthiest bits of our lives. Even when the darkness and the dirt pile up around us, there he is.

The second thing that really touches me about the Christmas story is how love invites everyone in. From the get go, Jesus was surrounded by a likely shunned mother (young and pregnant out of wedlock) and an adoptive parent. His family image is anything but neat and tidy. His birth is witnessed by animals (maybe). From there, God alerts both the low and the high of society. Angels alert shepherds of his birth – likely social outcasts or at the very least lower on society’s social ladder. A star’s light guides the distinguished and respected wise men. Once again this is such a beautiful reminder that Jesus came for all. He made space for everyone right from the moment of His birth.

So if you are feeling lost in the dark, messy, and alone, know that Jesus came for you. Love was made human for you. Love doesn’t wait for you to invite it in, it (He) exists alongside you. He sits with you in the mess. You are not alone. Not ever. You are not forgotten or discarded – even if society or family or Christians make you feel that way. You were invited into the greatest story ever told right from the beginning. There is space for you. Your mess is not enough to separate you from the light of love. Your station in this world is meaningless to the only king who ever held any importance.

The Christmas story is for you.

Jesus is for you. Exactly as you are. Exactly where you are.

And this is why the weary world rejoices.