Dec 6 - Luke 2:3

And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.

And Joseph also went up …

Luke 2:3-4

A second theme in our Christmas story is about “citizenship” and “circumstance.”

Just about every person in just about every era has had to submit – to some degree – to some human being or earthly authority. Whether it’s a king, a governor, a tribal leader, warlord, parent, or pimp just about every one of us has to submit – either wonderfully or fearfully – to some human authority.

•      In our American day and age, our submission generally comes in terms of paying taxes and following laws.
•      In other times and places, citizens must submit to conscription into the king’s army.
•      Some people in some places have had to bow to kings and statues.
•      Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem in Judea because it was the time of the census.

God gave dominion of this world to imperfect people.

Imperfect people set up imperfect societal structures.

We should always wish – and even push – for just and equitable forms of government. But we should be wise enough to realize that it will never be heaven on earth. This is not our home.

Like it or not, each human life will be dropped into some societal context. As Americans, we’re pretty fortunate. But we don’t get to choose. Some are born in poverty; some are born to royalty. Some are born into democracy; some are born under the thumb of dictators. Some are born in times of peace; others are born in times of violence and war.

We don’t get to choose.

But, think about it, Mary and Joseph didn’t get to choose either. Therefore, a pregnant mom bounced upon a donkey through the hills of Judea to satisfy an earthly king’s decree … and to fulfill a five hundred year old prophecy decreed by an eternal King!

God has a purpose for each of us. We may not see it … or understand it … or welcome it … or want it … in our life time, but the Christmas story tells us that in the midst of whatever our circumstance – good or bad – God can work powerfully through it. Therefore …

•      to all the powerless in every time and place, the Christmas story reminds of a great king who willingly became a powerless infant who, though he was in the bosom of a loving mother, was also at mercy of the forces of a cruel world.
•      to all the slaves throughout history, the Christmas story tells of a Savior who was born a Jew in an age when Jews were essentially enslaved to the Roman Empire.
•      to all who are oppressed by the harshness, pettiness, or judgments of others, the holy Christ was born a Jew in an age when a once simple and holy religion had slipped into oppressive legalism.
•      to all who have to hide from violence, the King of the Jews was born in an age when an earthly king, Herod, was so threatened that he systematically executed helpless children.

In Christ’s Love,

A guy who’s learning what the apostle

means when he says,

“give thanks in all circumstances”

(1 Thes 5:18)