"The Imperfect Made Perfect"

(Matthew 1:18-25)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

An eight-year-old girl was showing her preschool sister a picture of Mary and the baby Jesus. The younger girl examined the picture closely and then she asked, "Where's Joseph?"

The older sister thought for a moment and then replied, "He's taking the picture." (1)

A little girl was helping her mother unpack the nativity set and set it up. As she unpacked each of the pieces she said, "Here's Mary and Joseph." When she got the figurine of Jesus in the manger she said, "and here's the baby Jesus in his car seat." (2)

We laugh at the way our children misinterpret the message of Christmas don't we. They know the story but sometimes they get confused and what comes out of their mouths isn't imperfect.

Like the little boy who had drawn a picture of the nativity with all the characters. Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, the wise men and shepherds were all present as was another rather large, heavy set character. When the boy's Sunday School teacher saw the picture and asked him who it was. And the boy said, "The guy from Silent Night." The teacher asked "Who?" and the boy said, "The guy from Silent Night. You know, Round John." (3)

Our children's imperfect renditions of the Christmas story make us laugh. Sometimes we overlook the fact that, from the world's point of view, most of the miracle of Christmas was imperfect. Nobody was laughing back then. Instead, it confused everyone and it confused the issue. Just like looking through more mature eyes and heart, we understand how our children can make those mistakes, we look back at the Birth of our Savior and see how perfect it really was. But at the outset, at first glance it appears to be very imperfect.

I. THE IMPERFECT:

A. PEOPLE: First, look at the people involved, a teenage girl and her not much older fiancé. Today we would think that they were both ill equipped for such a burden or such a task. Joseph was a young carpenter who hadn't built his clientele yet. Oh, he could support a new wife but probably not a wife and a baby. Joseph and Mary were basically nobodies. Who was going to listen to them. they were love struck teenagers. Everybody would roll their eyes at their story.

Herod, the king, was of no help. He was evil and despicable. He said he wanted to worship the Messiah, but when push came to shove, all he wanted to do was rub out the competition.

And who would believe the word of the shepherds? they were smelly and dirty. And probably a little loopy from spending all that time with the sheep. Who knows what they saw. And who knows what they might have been drinking when they saw it.

And the Wise men? Is it really wise to chase a star half way across the world to find a baby you don't even know exists? They had to be a couple of McNuggets short of a Happy Meal. Wise men from the east. Yeah, the East Belleview Mental Ward maybe.

You see, the people involved were rather imperfect.

B. SITUATION: And look at the situation. We've already described this love struck teenage couple. It was bad enough that they were engaged and had to take this trip to Bethlehem. But it was compounded by the fact that Mary was with child. If that wasn't bad enough, Mary compounded the situation even more by reporting that Joseph wasn't the father. That made eyebrows raise, especially after Joseph concurred and didn't divorce her.

This whole census thing, too. Was that not a fiasco waiting to happen? Why did everyone have to travel back to the hometown of their ancestors? That would sort of be like our census bureau telling everyone they had to go back to the town in which they were born to fill out the forms. The theme song would be Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again."

And then there were the accommodations. It's obvious Tom Bodett wasn't the innkeeper because Motel Six forgot to leave the light on. This young couple, expecting their first baby, was shoved into a barn where no one could see them or be disturbed by the crying of the newborn or the labor pains of the mother.

So, you see, the whole situation was imperfect.

C. TIME: Then there was the whole timing issue. God could have waited for a better transportation system. Mary would have been more comfortable in Ford Explorer or a Mini Van than on the back of a donkey. And the communication of the era was horrible, too. No telephones, telegrams, television or e-mail. All they had was word of mouth. Wouldn't this Messiah's message been better served at a time when the message could go to so many so quickly?

The timing was imperfect, too.

D. PLACE: And then there was the place. Bethlehem was this backwater little town mentioned only once or twice in the Old Testament. And then only by one of the minor prophets. It was just a poor working class, little town.

And it was in Israel, an occupied territory of Rome. Israel wasn't even a free country. If anyone or any community got too big, Rome would come squash them like a bug.

The place wasn't much better then the time, the situation or the people involved. It all seems so imperfect.

II. THE IMPERFECT MADE PERFECT:

If we only take time to look with worldly eyes all we see are the imperfections of the story, the imperfections and the improbability of it all. But then that's what adds so much to its charm. And the Good News of this season is that God can take the imperfect and make it perfect. When we look through the eyes of faith, we see just how perfect the story is.

Mary and Joseph were the perfect couple. Their devotion to each other was only out shined by their devotion to God. They were young enough and resilient enough to withstand even the worst criticism. Their mutual love for God helped them say that "Yes!" of faith to God's call, no matter where it led them. And Joseph was talented enough to build his trade even in a foreign country.

The Scripture is full of nobodies, like Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds whom God used for God's work. Most of the major figures of the Bible were nobodies. Noah was just an everyday sort of guy. Abraham was a nomad. Jacob was a cheat. Moses was an ex-slave and a shepherd. Yet God used all of these not because of who they were but because of who God was and is.

The place and the timing were perfect as well. Although Israel was an occupied state, there was world peace because of the Roman Empire. Rome had established peace which made travel and trade between the countries safe. That opened up the journey of the wise men and Mary and Joseph's hurried trip to Egypt. And because of Rome, there was a common language that was spoken for trade and travel purposes.

And the accommodations? Well, there may not have been any room at the inn but that was a good thing. You see, most inns back then consisted of one big communal area where everybody slept. By being shoved out into the barn, Mary and Joseph weren't subjected to the stares, questions and comments of all the others camped out with them. Instead, Mary had a semi private suite in which to deliver her first child and fulfill the prophecy from Isaiah that a virgin would conceive and bear a son. Her only audience was the animals, and their body heat helped keep her warm.

What looks imperfect to us at first glance, God made perfect. For God's purpose. All those little imperfect twists are part of what makes this story so endearing and so perfect. One look at the Nativity, Joseph lovingly looking at Mary. And Mary lovingly cradling that baby in her arms is enough to let us know how perfect the events and the people really were. If that's not enough, then one look into the face of our Savior wrapped in swaddling clothes is. For God takes the imperfect and makes it perfect.

III. GOD CONTINUES TO PERFECT:

A. God did it in the lives of Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Mary and Joseph and God continues to do the same thing with our lives, today. God takes our sometimes feeble attempts, our imperfect faith and actions and uses them. God perfects them and uses them for God's purpose. It happens all year long, in all of the seasons but this is the season in which we feel it and experience it the most. It reminds us that God doesn't want perfect Christians, God wants Christians who can be perfected.

That's the Good News of this season. It brings hope to the hopeless and love to the unloved. That's why we love Christmas so much. For all of its imperfections, the Christmas story is the most perfect story ever told. As it grows in our hearts, as it takes root and grows in our lives, God continues to perfect it in us and through us.

B. Did you ever read Bret Harte's story The Luck of Roaring Camp? Roaring Camp was, the meanest, toughest mining town in all of the West. It was a terrible place inhabited entirely by men, and one woman with a questionable character. Her name was Cherokee Sal. She died while giving birth to a baby.

Well, the men took the baby, and they put her in a box with some old rags under her. When they looked at her, they decided that didn't look right, so they sent one of the men eighty miles to buy a rosewood cradle. He brought it back, and they put the rags and the baby in the rosewood cradle. And the rags didn't look right there. So they sent another man to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful silk and lace blankets. They wrapped the baby in those blankets and placed her in the rosewood cradle.

It looked fine until someone noticed how filthy the floor was. So, these hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees, and scrubbed that floor until it was spotless. Of course, that made the walls and the ceiling and the dirty windows without curtains look absolutely terrible. So, they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they put curtains on the windows. Things were beginning to look as they thought they should look. But of course, they had to give up a lot of their fighting, because the baby slept a lot, and babies can't sleep during a brawl.

They began to watch their language and rowdy ways. When the weather permitted, they used to take the baby out and set her by the entrance to the mine in her rosewood cradle so they could see her when they came up. Then somebody noticed what a dirty place that was. To fix it, they planted flowers, and they made a nice garden there. It was beautiful. The men really loved her and would bring her shiny little stones and things that they'd find in the mine. But when they would put their hands down next to hers, their hands looked dirty. So, pretty soon the general store was all sold out of soap and shaving gear and perfume and those kinds of things . . . the baby changed everything.

CONCLUSION:

That's the way it is when the perfect gift of God, touches the imperfections of our lives. The baby changes everything. Including our hearts. This baby who started in such an imperfect way, with so many imperfect people and situations, was the perfect gift for a world that needed a word of hope. God sent that Word in the flesh. And it was perfect. And it changes our lives.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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Bibliography

1. Taken from CPC Life Line, edited by Edith Nedrud

2. As told to me by Dr. Ed Otwell

3. Adapted, The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), December 1984

Other References Consulted