Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash

But what happens when something, someone...
crosses the divide?

King Abdullah of Jordan is a barrier-crossing king.

If you’ve ever seen the TV show “Undercover Boss,” that gives you some sort of idea.
King Abdullah has made a habit of going undercover
– as a TV reporter,
a taxi driver,
a wounded old man,
a business man in queue at the tax department… he wants to see what it’s like to be an ordinary citizen, to hear their stories, feel their frustrations, walk their paths…
He is a king who knows what his people are going through.

The majority of the people love him... but what if God did what he did?
Surely there would be anger, confusion, fear.

On that first Christmas, there was all of that and more.

Herod was angry,
the wise men were confused,
the shepherds were afraid.

Born in humble surroundings.
              Lived an extraordinary life.
                            He’s a son, a brother.
From a humble family.
              Working the family business.

He’s worked and waited, thirsted and been satisfied.
He’s felt joy and pain, loneliness and community.

Not just any king but the son.
Mighty God in humble babe.
Everlasting father in mortal flesh.

He’s the God who knows us.
He’s the God who has lived the life that we couldn’t.

Justice in place of our injustice.
Righteousness in place of our sin.
The perfect life, the atoning death.

He’s one of us but he’s better than us.
He didn't just bridge the divide,
He made his home among us.

For many, that's the only Jesus they know
or the only Jesus they like.

What Jesus do you know?
What Jesus do you like?

In the movie "Talladega Nights," Will Ferrell delivers one of the greatest graces of all time:


So tiny... yet still omnipotent.
Jokes aside, I think he's actually getting somewhere.

Sure, his Jesus is stuck in perpetual baby-hood.
But his Jesus is no less God.

I'm with Will, I like the Christmas Jesus best!

Because the Christmas Jesus was fully God, fully man.
The Christmas Jesus humbled himself to enter our world.
The Christmas Jesus is God with us.
The Christmas Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
The Christmas Jesus came to bring peace and righteousness.
The Christmas Jesus...
well the Christmas Jesus is the same Jesus as every other day.

The reality is that we don't choose our favourite Jesus,
the beauty is that Jesus chooses us.

But I'm not sure if you've noticed others of them.
You probably haven't, because they're so engrained within us.
We don't even realise there are other options...
Until someone pushes the boundaries.
     Goes against the grain.
          Does something different.

As a mum, I have found myself time and time again doing things because that's what I know or that's what everyone else is doing...
Even though I'm the sort of mum who questions most things.

I don't want to do things just because other people are doing them.
I want to do things because they're the right things for our family,
for our girl 

But often I find myself slipping back, doing what everyone else is doing, because that is so familiar and I don't even realise there's another option.
Or I do what others are doing because I feel pressure. I feel weighed down.
It's tiring standing out on my own.

It's easy to do what is expected of you.
It's easy to do what you've always done and always known.
It's easier not to questions things, to follow instructions, to go with the flow.
But that's not always the best thing.
That's not always the right thing.
In the long run, that's often a damaging thing.

It might be scary
taking the road less travelled,
going the long way,
being a bit lonely
but I believe it's worth it.

Photo by Noah Glynn on Unsplash

In Matthew 2, we read that King Herod, the ruler of the time, sent the Wise Men to Bethlehem to find Jesus. He instructed them,
"Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." (verse 8)
They found Jesus, gave him gifts and worshipped him.
After this they heard in a dream not to return to Herod,
but to go home a different way.

Who would they listen to?
Would they obey the king or the King?

It's easy to do the things that seems less crazy.
It's easy to do the things that make you feel less scared.
It's easy to do the "right thing."

But sometimes,
for our own sake
or even for the sake of the world,
we need to listen carefully to those dreams,
we need to take the road less travelled,
we need to do the crazy thing,
we need to go against the grain.

Leeland, in his song Opposite Way encourages this:

I want to listen to the voices that matter,
not the voices that are calling the loudest.
Will you join me?

Imagine if we reduced words to just meaning the absence of their opposites.
Then beauty is just the absence of ugliness;

Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash

So when the angels declare at Jesus' birth –
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." [Luke 2:14]

and thought. 
and read the Christmas story. 
for yourself?

Not "the Christmas story" but the Christmas story.

There are details missing, that I'm sure were in there...
      s o m e w h e r e .
Or was that someone else's version.
And there are details included, that I'm sure weren't there last time...
      o r  w e r e  t h e y ? !
And I decided to leave them out of my version?

Have you actually read it, as though you're hearing it for the first time?
Imagined yourself in their shoes?
Read it and been surprised by it?
It's pretty surprising!

Photo by 小胖 车 on Unsplash

In Matthew 1, Joseph finds out he's going to be a dad:

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. [Matthew 1:18-25]

S U R P R I S I N G  T H I N G S:

1. (maybe not surprising in our culture): Mary is pregnant outside of marriage.
2. (this is where it starts getting weird!): She is pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
3. Joseph wanted to do the right thing, so was going to divorce her (even though they weren't married!)
4. An angel (yes, an angel) told Joseph the baby was from the Holy Spirit... and also told him what to call their son.
5. Their lives were fulfilling an age old prophecy (that all Jews would have known about).
6. Joseph woke up from the dream, believed it, and remained faithful to Mary and God (can you imagine the things people were saying about them!?)