Ah – Christmas. We love the traditional story. But the backstory gives a glimpse into the origins of this faith, and it is anything but traditional. God reveals His un-orthodox ways of working with humanity to make His presence known. Here is where the real wonder of the Christmas story lies. He does far more than our personal God-box will ‘allow’ Him to do.
Jesus comes out of a traditional Jewish cultural and religious heritage. While there are clear connections to that lineage (God fulfills prophecies about Jesus’ entrance into the world), tradition ends there.
Think about just these few things from the Christmas narrative:
- To ensure Jesus was born into a family, Joseph was led by God to step away from his own Jewish traditions and male rights and not divorce Mary.
- Further outside his tradition, he also was prompted to believe the sexual history story of Mary – a rarity in any culture, and an ‘outsider’ move on his part.
- Then, God led some Zoroastrian practitioners (magi) via their astrology and their religions’ belief in a single ‘wise’ god, to follow their inner and astrological prompts to meet a person who was born a ‘king’. They didn’t know the God of the Jews. They weren’t connected to that orthodoxy. But clearly God knew them and spoke to them through what we might label as ‘pagan’ practices.
God does what He does to draw people into His Kingdom and to accomplish what He desires. He used angels to convince a Jewish guy to abandon his traditions. He prompted people with no understanding of the ‘orthodoxy’ we might believe is important, to not only hear Him, but obey.
To me, that’s the great Wonder of this season. So look. Listen. He’s calling to you.
