The Original Christmas Misfits

This page will help you quickly get oriented to the gist of “Real Life George Bailey.”

Christmas had stopped making sense to me. I understood the holiday, I had just stopped feeling it. Take a peak at the introduction and a few chapters of A Nativity of Misfits if you want the details. Here’s the short version. I realized that those glazed porcelain figures in the Creche look nothing like those people God invited experience the incarnation. That’s a huge problem because the medium is the message. Each person God engaged was a clue just how big the Gospel is. So, porcelain witnesses yield a porcelain gospel.

I decided to research just who the original cast of Christmas was. Here’s what I learned.

Some of  witnesses teach us that Jesus is God’s gift for those who struggle with faith:

Zechariah was a cynic: He was a country priest alienated from position and power. In his lifetime he witnessed Roman oppressors invade his country. He witnessed the burning villages and the enslavement of the able-bodied. The Romans installed a warlord, Herod, as a regional “king.” Herod installed his own high priests to make sure the clergy were supportive of his regime. Nothing in Zechariah’s life prepared him for the possibility of hope. So when Zechariah took his turn to pray for the Salvation of Israel and an angel responded, you’d expect him to roll his eyes in disbelief.

Joseph struggled with will. You’ve seen the movie where Joseph and Mary were kids madly in love? That’s probably not historically accurate. Joseph was a widower and he had already raised a set of children.  The Eastern Orthodox place Joseph as a ninety-year old man in their tradition. He was an old man would was engaged to Mary for convenience, not for romance, and definitely not for adventure. Joseph considered quietly divorcing young Mary to preserve the quiet comfort of his life. But eventually he surrender his will, embraced adventure, and choose following Jesus over his well  groomed reputation.

Mary: Mary was young, brash, and idealistic. If her neighbors ever overheard her working on the verse of her “Magnificat” they would have accused her of being arrogant, boastful, and perhaps mad. She had the audacity to pen a treasonous song about how her son would pull Herod down from his throne. Yes, Mary wasn’t cynical like Zechariah or willful like Joseph, but her faith God-honoring but youthful. Her struggle of with faith would come later, when Jesus didn’t work her plan.

Others among the Misfits teach us that God is for those society marginalizes:

The Wise Men. The wise men weren’t M.E.N.S.A. candidates. Their oblivious posture toward local politics resulted in the slaughter of the innocents. They didn’t possess common sense, but they did possess knowledge regarding the occult. They were pagan priests. Historians place these magi as begin part of a Babylonian sect of Zoroastrianism. As such, they weren’t welcome by the pious in Israel. Israel had found themselves in exile, in part, because they turned to pagan religions instead of placing their trust in the true God. But now, here was God welcoming them, and inviting them to worship his son. That couldn’t have won them many points with the Jerusalem clergy.

The Shepherds. Shepherds were known for being thieves and for being quick to start a fight. they lived a semi-nomadic existence when they ran out of a staple, well they just stole whatever was available. When confronted, they would fight to defend their honor. Their reputation was so poor and pervasive that they were not allowed to testify in court.  There were wings of the priesthood would believed that men like the shepherds would meet ultimate justice when the Messiah returned to purge the nation of it’s lawlessness. The court system wasn’t interested in their word, but God made them eye-witnesses to an angelic declaration:God was declaring peace toward sinful humanity.

Women. God revealed himself to a patriarchal society. Sometimes it’s just plain uncomfortable to read how women were treated in the Old Testament. The Prophet Joel prophesied that this would change someday. Women would become the recipients of divine prophesy. At the Incarnation, those prophesies became true.

The Poor. There were better places for God to have “The Anointed One” born. Jerusalem comes to mind. Having him born in Rome would have had an ironic touch. It never hurts to have your Messiah born into the seat of power. Instead, Jesus was born in an impoverished village that had outlived its usefulness. This dirt-village was chosen by God to communicate that the Messiah was for the weak and the lowly.

And then there were some that Jesus came for, but not in a friendly sense. Christmas, when properly understood, is God’s response to evil.

King Herod. War Lord or thug would describe Herod more accurately than “king.” The Roman’s rewarded Herod for his role in putting down the Jewish resistance by making him a regional ruler. He was known for his paranoia and willingness to kill anyone, even family, if they became a perceived threat. Herod was the one who rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple. This had earned him popularity in some circles. However, in the eyes of the pious, the temple had become a travesty. Gentile art graced the walls. The Temple had become a tourist attraction for wealthy Romans and Jew who had been dispersed through out the Empire. The Temple also become the site for some of Herod’s most brutal acts of violence.

The Snake. There should be a snake in every nativity set. The Incarnation was a counter attack through which God break the power of the being that tricked Adam and Eve into biting the forbidden fruit. Christmas shouldn’t be a sentimental holiday. It’s a military anniversary, like D-Day, should remind us of an epic story.