If you are like me, then
at least once in your life, you have either participated in, or were an
audience member for, a Christmas Pageant performance – the story of Mary and
Joseph and the birth of their son, Jesus. Every version of this story that I
have ever seen always includes the wanderers from the east, known as the Magi,
who have followed this star over a great distance and arrive at the manger just
in time to celebrate the birth of the Messiah with the shepherds and to bestow
their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
We are so certain that
this is how the story actually goes that every single Nativity set ever made
includes the following characters: Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, several
kneeling shepherds, three wise men (usually with crowns or fine cloaks to
differentiate from the common shepherd), an angel watching over the birth, and
a series of animals to surround the group to highlight the fact that Jesus was
born in a manger.
This version of the story
is so ingrained in our psyche that we would consider it a problem if any of
these characters was missing or not presented in a theatrical play, felt board
Sunday school story, or nativity set production.
The problem is that this
version of the story is not accurate. The characters are all correct and the
plot line is very much accurate. But the timing of the scene is completely
wrong! The scripture is quite clear that only Mary, Joseph and the shepherds
are present at the manger during the birth of Christ (Luke 2:15 -20). The angels appear to the shepherds in the
fields to announce what has happened (Luke 2:8-14). And the Magi don’t actually
show up to visit Mary, Joseph and Jesus until a while later and visit them at a
home they are staying in Bethlehem
So how did this happen?
How did this traditional story, that everyone is so familiar with, get adjusted
and tweaked and yet no one questioned it?
The answer is simple –
tradition, familiarity, and convenience.
Somewhere, somebody had to
perpetrate this “story change” for the first time and was allowed to do it. The
audience accepted it, or didn’t question it, and the change was brought about. Some
on-looker must have thought that this merging of the two gospel birth accounts
was effective and allowed a more ‘smooth flow’ in the story and copied it. The
people who knew the story well must have been okay with the ‘adjustments’ and
determined that the overall effect and impact was still present and allowed
this change to continue.
Tradition, familiarity and
convenience can be a potent combination that creates a numbness and/or dullness
to our senses that becomes a breeding ground for inaccurate, inappropriate, or
unaware change.
I am reminded of a story
about a mother and daughter who were cooking a Christmas ham together in the
kitchen. The daughter was observing every move her mother made and was asking
questions to better understand why she was doing what she was doing. Everything
was making sense until mom picked up the ham and cut off the bottom 1/3 and then
through it away in the trash. When her daughter asked why, she paused,
scratched her head and then said, “That’s the way my mom always did it”. So the
two called grandma on the phone to ask why the bottom 1/3 of the ham was hacked
off and just discarded. Grandma’s response was a bit surprising as she said,
“I’m not sure. I always did that because that’s what my mom did.” One more call
remained to get to the bottom of this mystery. They all called great-Grandma
together and asked her the question. Great-Grandma laughed out loud as she
provided them with the answer to their quandary, “I always cut off the bottom
1/3 of the ham because my pan was too small to hold the entire thing.”
Traditions can be a tricky
thing both in a positive and negative way. Sometimes they come about based on
repetition – simply because we saw someone we trusted doing it like that. Or
sometimes they come about based on longevity – because that’s the way it’s
always been done.
I believe God is calling
us to something different, something more intentional. He is calling His people
to take a look at things with fresh eyes and to see with a new understanding
that can only come from Him.
One area in particular
that needs this ‘fresh look’ is our current traditional understanding of personal
trials, prolonged tribulations and seasons of difficulty. Currently, we view
these things as inherently negative and something “bad” that we desperately
need to be delivered from and our prayers reflect that belief. Whether it
manifests itself in the form of death in the family, a fight with cancer, a
loss of job, a home foreclosure, or the disillusionment of a marriage we cry
out to our Maker with a desperate prayer to deliver us from this pain, to
remove this struggle, to take away this burden. But is that a biblical
perspective?
I came across a series of
verses that got my attention and caused me to question my traditional view of
pain, suffering and trials:
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles
come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that
when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow,
for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete,
needing nothing.” James 1:2-4
“We can rejoice, too,
when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop
endurance. And
endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our
confident hope of salvation. And
this hope will not lead to disappointment.” Romans 5:3-5a.
“So be truly glad …even though you have
to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show
that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies
gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith
remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and
honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter
1:6-7
Look at the words that are
being used here by James, Paul and Peter to describe our response to this pain
and difficulty – to rejoice, to be glad, and to consider it great joy.
I find that to be an
absolutely shocking response to hardship and tribulation. I don’t know about
you but my first reaction to struggle and seasons of difficulty is not one of
gladness, joy or rejoicing. It is usually sadness, fear and a heartfelt cry out
to the Lord for intervention.
If we look at the verses a
little more and with greater clarity we will see that James, Paul and Peter are
not asking us to be joyful and happy about the trials and difficulties
themselves, but instead are challenging us to see the end result of what these
challenges will produce in our lives.
Paul says that these
problems will produce endurance and endurance will lead to strength of character
and strength of character will lead to hope which will not disappoint. James
tells us that these troubles will challenge our faith and when our faith is
challenged it will in turn cause our endurance to grow and when fully developed
will be perfect and complete. And Peter speaks of these trials being a test to
show that our faith is genuine and pure like the process of purifying gold.
It seems that our current
tradition of avoiding pain, suffering and trials might be the wrong one. These
men of God were challenging us to seek the Father in the midst of the trial and
cling to Him for strength and endurance. Our natural desire to avoid difficulty
and seek deliverance from anything that might be deemed negative is just that,
natural. Instead we need to cling to the supernatural and look to the strength
beyond ourselves that can only come from God.
In my current struggle,
this season of difficulty has reached 15 months and counting. And during this
time the situations and circumstances have not really lessened or turned for
the positive. Yet in the midst of this storm and struggle I have chosen to
trust the Lord and to truly cling to Him. And now have a much greater
appreciation for what Paul called “the peace that surpasses all understanding”.
Now instead of praying for immediate deliverance, I ask the Lord to help me
endure the trial and learn all that I can in the midst of it. Don’t get me
wrong. I am most definitely crying out for an end to the season as soon as
possible. But my understanding and perspective has shifted to one of endurance
rather then straight deliverance.
I ask that each of us will
be challenged to re-evaluate our traditional view of hardship and struggle and
allow the Lord to mature us in a way that will cause growth and deeper understanding.
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