The Perils surrounding the Nativity Narrative
The story of Christ’s birth is always in danger of becoming too pedestrian, so familiar it becomes trite. Sadly, the very commemoration of this story every year can sometimes lead us to bury it further into the dark recesses of our dormant memory instead of making it new again. We know how the narrative ends, so we often overlook the inherent peril in Christ’s coming to the world as a baby.
The whole process of bringing a savior to earth was fraught with inconceivable risk. Mortality rates for child birth and the probability of any child making it to adulthood in the ancient world were huge risks for an only begotten son; God only had one chance. In addition to the natural causes of death, Herod awaited the birth of Christ and, according to our Bible story, murdered the male infants of a whole town for the possibility to end the story of Christ prematurely. The world loomed so large and powerful in comparison to the fragility of the situation for the young Mary, Joseph, and child. At any point, the terrors of the world seemed poised to swallow the entire enterprise whole.
The odds were against Christ then, and they certainly oppose him now. The story of Christ is still in danger. The world is still so large and seems bent on trying to stamp out any belief in the Christ. Many media voices spout out a logic that makes belief seem ridiculous. We cannot escape the megaphone of Christmas commercialism that can keep us so busy we don’t have time to savor the thought of the Savior. A Savior who lived and died to not only help us believe in him, but to enable us to be like him. With all the pressures of the season, we can spend so much time celebrating Christmas that we forget to be Christians.
Our faith in Christ may begin as a fragile, faint glimmer in the terrifying darkness of the night sky, but as we follow the light of the savior in the service of each other, we can #lighttheworld with hope.
Check out this video for inspiration. https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero
Message inspired by the faithful scholarship of Brevard S. Childs, see his The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1974), 24–25.
Originally published at nathanwritesstuff.com on December 2, 2016.
