Ready or Not, Here I Come!

This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. Luke 2:12

Sometime back in elementary school, we built our own nativity set. The characters were simple: pre-made wooden figurines which we transformed with colored felt and lots of glue into Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the three wise men. The main piece, the stable, was made of plywood with a shake roof. And the manger was nothing more than a matchbox with four matches as legs. That was good enough.

But what wasn’t good enough, what didn’t turn out was the angel. No matter how many times I tried: these heavenly creatures just never looked right. At least not like the ones I had pictured in my mind. They looked fake. Unbelievable. Or even worse: like ghosts!  So I finally gave up. And up to this day every Christmas, when my parents set up my clumsy childhood nativity set, the angels who are supposed to enlighten the sky above the stable and sing God’s glory - are missing. 

And maybe this is quite fitting. Because: In the time leading up to Christmas, I’ve found myself more than once in that same classroom again, where I tried to build angels. I tried to get at least some angel glamor into my home, I would get myself into the “Christmas spirit” with music, spices, and gatherings, yes, with my best intentions to be on a journey to Bethlehem. But while I kept telling myself “This year will be different,” I found that I often just added yet another stress to my Advent days, that of “trying to do Christmas correctly”! Let’s face it: I am pretty lousy at building angels or making Advent special or creating heaven on earth for that matter. 

And maybe that’s ok. 

The reformer Martin Luther tells the story about a good, pious man who wanted to get to heaven even during his lifetime. Therefore, he tried to do good every day, and mounted each day on the ladder to perfection, until one day his head was high enough that he could get a glimpse of heaven. But he was very disappointed: Heaven was dark, empty, and cold. Because God wasn’t up there. God was on earth, lying in a manger. 

So if you find yourself struggling that you’re nowhere close to done with your preparations for the holidays, take heart! The good news of the nativity is this: that God came down and took residence - not among the singing angels nor in a perfectly prepared home, but rather in a place that was quite shabby and not ready at all. So right where I am. 

Prayer: God of love, thank you that you humbled yourself to be one of us to convince us of your love. You are Immanuel - “God with us” whether I’m ready or not; whether I feel worthy or not. Open my eyes, so I can see you; and in myself, in family, friends, neighbors, and strangers what you see: each one a beloved child. Amen. 

Rev. Thomas Dummermuth, reprinted from the 2013 Advent Devotional