The Scandal of Christmas

     The real Christmas story is even more scandalous than finding an “Eat More Chikin’” cow in my Nativity scene (compliments of my family). In the true story, Mary, a teenager, tells her fiancé she’s pregnant by the Holy Spirit. You expect him to believe that? No way. So being a good Jewish boy, Joseph plans to privately dump her. But in a dream that’s enough to rattle anyone, an angel tells him to marry her. Not an easy start for a couple.     
     Then Mary goes into labor while they’re traveling to a census count. No vacancies, so it’s anguish and afterbirth in a barn, and their newborn lying in a feeding trough. Not the dream of first-time parents.     
     In a field nearby, celestial warriors rip open the sky and practically scare the tunics off a bunch of shepherds. They hotfoot it over to worship this child who the angels proclaim will be a savior. Then foreign scholars follow a weird star and announce to the local overlord that a baby is destined to become king. Fearing for his position, the overlord goes postal and kills all infants under the age of two - bloody infanticide. But Joseph and Mary escape, so desperate to protect their child they seek refuge in a foreign country.         
     No sweet, syrupy story here. Instead, it’s the Supernatural’s gritty entrance onto planet Earth. God sneaks in as a baby to identify with our frailness, then as an adult, he rolls up his sleeves to deal with our brokenness. But that’s another true story - Easter.     
     To hear a realistic song about Jesus’ birth, click here.