In the Bleak Mid-Winter

The year was 1863. The United States was divided by the Civil War, as those who had once been allies became enemies and those who were once fellow-citizens now fought to the death. There were few people on either side who were untouched by the strife, as the entire nation mobilized for the most personal war of its history. It was a time of blood and death; of terror and tragedy; of hatred and fear. Many families were grieving for those who had been lost; one such man was the famed poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow's oldest son, Charles, had joined the Union Army, against his father's consent, and in November of that year had been badly injured in battle. As Christmas came that year, it was a dark time for many people. Longfellow recorded the feelings of his own and those of many others in a poem. In that poem, he spoke of hearing the sound of Christmas bells and how they celebrated the joy and peace of Christmas. And then he described those bells and carols drowned out by the sounds of canons, and the peace and joy of Christmas mocked by the hatred of men.

The specific situation of Longfellow is long over, but many people feel the same way today. Christmas is a time of joy and peace, but many people can find no peace and joy in it. For many people, Christmas only brings stinging memories and an aching sense of loss. The turmoil and troubles of life do not take holidays and often holidays only accentuate the problems we face in life. This is perhaps more acute for many people this year since this year has been such an unusual one for the world. Because of the pandemic, many people's Christmases will be more silent and somber than usual. Economic, political, physical, and social pressures have been exerted which seem to deflate much of the joy of Christmas for many people. For many people, the Christmas season is indeed the bleak mid-winter, and not merely in a physical sense.

And so we come to the question: how can we have Christmas even in the midst of such bad times? But that is really the wrong question. The issue isn't the practical problem of mere festivities. The question isn't whether we can get Christmas trees and presents or not. The question really is whether we can have peace and joy even in bad times. And the answer is yes, yes we can--BECAUSE of Christmas. Because of Christmas and what happened at Christmas, we can have joy and peace even in the darkest times, for it is precisely in the darkest times that light is most important and most obvious.

But to understand fully what I mean, we have to think more closely about the story of the first Christmas.

The Christmas story is a beautiful story, but it doesn't necessarily deal with beautiful things. If someone was sitting down and thinking--we're going to write one of the greatest stories ever, a story of joy and hope which will be read and reread ever year by millions of people all over the world--their first thought would probably not be: Let's begin this story with taxes. There is nothing poetic about taxes. There is nothing dramatic about a census.

And yet that's where this story begins, with a census made for the purpose of taxation, a census which forced Joseph and his wife to leave their home in Nazareth and travel the long distance to Bethlehem for enrollment. It isn't that far on a map between Nazareth and Bethlehem, but travel was slow and hard in that day. And Joseph and Mary made this trip, not for any benefit for themselves, but because they were forced by the government, and not their own government, but a foreign government which had taken control over their land.

When they reached Bethlehem, the town was crowded, no doubt because of the many people returning there for the census, and so there was nowhere for Joseph and Mary to stay and so they ended up staying among the livestock so that when Mary's child was born, they had nothing to use for a cradle except a manger.

This is the story, and we have to be careful with it; because we've all heard this story so many times, we can easily forget what it was like for Mary and Joseph to be stuck in the middle of it. But nobody, then or now, likes having their plans disarranged or being forced to make long trips unexpectedly or ending up without a place to stay. No mother wants to give birth in a stable.

Some of you might be able to tell stories of Christmases that went wrong; of times when your holiday celebration went off the rails and ended in disaster. But likely none of our Christmas stories could end as badly as the first Christmas story began. Of course, none of this was Joseph or Mary's fault--they didn't ask the Roman government to make a census nor did they want to end up staying in a stable. These were just unfortunate circumstances that happened to them and which they were forced to endure.

And while some of these were just annoyances or inconveniences, they did involve real tragedy and real evil. The Roman occupation of Israel (which set the groundwork for all of this) was an evil. Though the Romans weren't the worst people ever to rule over the Jews, their rule was one of tyranny and tragedy. Things happened under the Romans that make many of our modern media tragedies seem hollow by comparison.

And while we don't know enough about the situation in Bethlehem to say for sure, it is possible that there were some within Bethlehem who could have offered Mary and Joseph a place to stay and simply didn't out of selfishness. The heartless innkeeper who appears in many Christmas plays who coldly turns the holy family away may have been a reality.

This is a beautiful story, but it doesn't deal with beautiful things. It deals with inconveniences and burdens and oppression and tragedy. Just looking at this story from the outset, it seems more like a depressing documentary on social problems than a story of joy or hope.

And that's exactly the interesting point. When we lived in Tennessee, every year we would go to a large Nativity Pagent that a group in Knoxville put on. They had an excellent script and one line, in particular, stands out in my mind. When Mary and Joseph finally reached the stable, the narrator commented that it was: “The long-to be remembered Stable. The never-to-be-forgotten stable.” And I bring that up because I'm sure prior to the events of Christmas, nobody ever thought that the words “long-to-be remembered” or “never to be forgotten” would be spoken in relation to a stable. There's a Christmas song that refers to the “Glory Manger.” I feel certain that before Christmas, no one ever used the words “glory” and “manger” together.

Who would want to go to a stable? Who wouldn't want to have had the chance to go to THAT stable? Indeed, to this day, people come from around the world to visit the location that tradition says was the location of that stable.

This is the irony of Christmas. Things which, of themselves, were not only commonplace but inconvenient or even tragic have become things of honor and glory. Before that night, that stable was just a stinkin' cowshed. After that night, it was one of the most sacred places in the world. What made the difference? The one who was born there. Any stable may become a palace if the king is there.

That is the difference which Christmas makes. When the angels dropped out of the sky and started shouting to startled shepherds, it wasn't to tell them some ageless platitude. They didn't come to tell the shepherds that things weren't all that bad and to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. They announced that a Saviour had been born and because He was born nothing has ever been the same.

One of the Old Testament prophecies stated that the Messiah would be called Emmanuel which means God-with-us. I don't know what Isaiah thought that meant when he prophesied it. I don't know if he thought God-with-us meant God-in-a-stable; that it meant God-in-a-manger-because-there-was-no-room-in-the-inn; that it meant God-in-the-midst-of-a-busy-crowded-town-taking-a-census-for-foreign-officialism; that it would mean God-falsely-accused-railroaded-and-nailed-to-a-cross. I don't know that he understood that Immanuel meant God-with-us from birth to death, walking with us, living with us, dying with us. But that is what it meant.

That's why everything changed with Christmas; that's why the things of Christmas take on a new significance; that's why we can have peace on earth even in the midst of the worst situations. Because God is with us. Jesus was born in that stable and that stable was never the same. But it wasn't just that particular stable. There are many songs or stories built around that idea that, just as someone should have offered Christ room in Bethlehem, so we should give him room in our hearts and lives. But there is a consequence of that. That stable in Bethlehem was an ordinary, probably dirty, and smelly place. And yet it became something glorious because Christ was there. Our lives may be ordinary and may sometimes seem dirty and smelly. But they may become glorious if Christ is there. Every stable is a possible epiphany. Every manger may become a sacrament. Every ladder may be Jacob's Ladder.

Sometimes, our holiday celebrations may not be what we wish they were. When Christmas comes to those who are grieving or those in need, the holiday spirit may seem like a mockery. Often are circumstances at Christmas may seem very distant from the idea of “peace on earth, goodwill to man”--but they are no more distant than the events of the first Christmas. And yet that first Christmas was an event of joy and hope because Christ was there. If we are God's people; if Christ is with us; then even the worst of days may become Christmas Day; even the darkest and dirtiest place may shine with glory as did that stable in Bethlehem. “For I will be with thee, thy trials to bless/And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”

But that isn't the whole of the story. The presence of God is a two-edged sword. Remember how the rest of this story goes.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. At the same time, outside of Bethlehem, there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks. And it was to them that the angel of the Lord appeared, like a bolt from the blue. We don't really know what angels look like, but apparently, they're pretty scary since nearly everyone time one appears, the first words he says are: “Fear not.”

Clearly, the shepherds were frightened by the appearance of this angel--and I think it was something more than the mere shock of such a sudden appearance. They seemed to have recognized this was an angel, a messenger of God; a mouthpiece of the most high. And receiving a message from God is not a matter to be taken lightly.

Think of the story which formed the core and center of the Jewish religion--the story of the giving of the law. God's glory shone from Mt. Sinai and in a physical voice, He spoke His law to the people. And the people were so awe-struck and terrified that they begged Moses to be their go-between, to let God speak to him alone because they could not bear to hear the voice of God directly. That's probably how the shepherds felt when the angel appeared.

On the phrase “they were sore afraid,” Adam Clarke comments: “Terrified with the appearance of so glorious a being, and probably fearing that he was a messenger of justice, coming to denounce Divine judgments, or punish them immediately, for sins with which their consciences would not fail, on such an occasion, to reproach them.”

And not only did this angel appear suddenly in a burst of glory, but he was shortly afterward joined by a “host” of angels. Because we know this story, we always think of this host as a choir, for they had come to proclaim something. But the word “host” literally means “army.” On that one night, the army of Heaven marched out in parade upon Earth. One can hardly blame the shepherds for being sore afraid.

They were afraid before, and afterward, they rejoiced. What made the difference in their feelings? How does one go from terror to bliss so quickly? The difference was the message of the angels: That a Saviour was born; and that there was peace on earth, good will to men.

Scholars are divided about exactly what that phrase “good will to men” means exactly, but the general idea seems to be that it refers to God's favor towards men. The word “good will” literally means “good choice.” The idea is that God was freely choosing to extend favor to humanity. The peace which is on earth is not a natural peace, nor is it simply human complacency nor a quiet, tranquil spirit. This peace comes from God for God is at peace with us. The heavenly hosts appeared, but this army came for peace and not for war.

All of this is important because it reminds us of how Jesus came. That night in Bethlehem, God came upon the earth. But He did not come in judgment; He did not come to bring destruction and punishment. He could have come that way. The world certainly deserved it then. The world was filled with wickedness, with cruelty and oppression, with impurity and dishonesty. We like to talk about how bad the world is today. It was no better in the day in which Jesus was born. The world of the first century had all of our vices and then some. If God had come in wrath and blotted out the world as once He did in the days of Noah, there would have been perfect justice in it.

But that isn't how He came then. He did not come to punish the world. He did not come as a conqueror. He came as a Savior. He came to bring peace on earth out of God's good favor. He did not come as a judge, but as the Consul for the Defense. He did not come to protect the righteous and destroy the wicked, but to seek and to save that which was lost. There will be a time when He does come as a judge; there will be a time when the heavenly hosts appear with a message of war and not of peace. But that night in Bethlehem, He came in mercy and not in wrath. Charles Wesley summarized it: “Peace on earth, and mercy mild/God and sinners reconciled.”

God is not our enemy, even though we are sometimes His enemies. God is on our side even when we are not on his side. God isn't sitting back in Heaven with his arms folded waiting for man to sin so that He will have an excuse to bring judgment. Throughout the Bible, we have this picture of God. Whenever God brings judgment, it is unwillingly. Over and over again through the prophets, He pleaded with people to repent so that there would be no need for judgment. Through Ezekiel he told the people: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

What happened in Bethlehem was only the climax of all God's working with mankind. That night, God's good favor to man became a practical reality. The word of mercy put on flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was born to bring about mercy and reconciliation; He was born, not to destroy, but to save. He had come as God's will to men, to bring peace on earth. This peace is an objective reality; not a feeling in our hearts. We may not feel peaceful; the world may not seem peaceful. But there is peace, because of God's good will to men.

All of which is to say this. God's favor is to us. If we do not have peace on earth and good will to men, we have only ourselves to blame. God has freely offered it to all those who will receive it. Jesus was born to provide it. People may misunderstand us. Friends may betray us. Situations may turn sour and our hearts may be broken. All these are real problems we face in life and I'm not trying to minimize them. But we can have hope and joy despite them, because of Christmas--because God has bestowed on us His good favor.

There is a story told about a group of shoppers. It was the week of Christmas and the stores were crowded. People were jostling and hurrying over each other in the rush to finish the Christmas shopping. In one large department store, a crowd of shoppers was squeezed together into an elevator. One could sense throughout the group the feeling of frustration and fatigue, and one woman voiced the feeling of the whole group when she commented: “You know, we should just shoot whoever came up with this whole Christmas thing.” And then a voice spoke from the back of the elevator: “Don't worry; we already crucified Him.”

That is the measure of God's favor; that is the measure of peace on earth and good will to men; not just that Jesus came for Christmas but that he also came for Easter; not just that he was born in a manger but that he died on a cross, to bring us salvation. That is why we can have peace and joy despite how terrible our circumstances may be; because God has given us His good favor by sending His Son to be a Saviour.

And with that, comes one final point. If anyone had been watching the events unfold around the birth of Christ, they would have thought it rather strange. Here we have one of the greatest events of human history. Here we have the beginning of a new era. Here we have the birth of a Saviour who would altar all things. Here we have God incarnate about to be born. And a few days before his birth, His parents get harried out of their home by a foreign census and forced to travel miles away to a crowded town. 

I think an observer would have been confused and worried by this. I rather suspect Joseph and Mary themselves were a little confused and worried. We all want our Christmases to come off neatly and according to plan. And one would think this would be especially so for the first Christmas. And yet that first Christmas seemed desperately derailed. One would think if God could get anything right, it would be the birth of His son. And yet here we have this strange, inconvenient story of a census and taxation and this long journey to Bethlehem. You could hardly blame someone for thinking that things had gotten desperately out of control.

And yet... and yet... hundreds of years before Jesus' birth, God had spoken through the prophet Micah and stated that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Do you see what that means? Nothing was out of control. God knew exactly what he was doing. The census may have taken Mary and Joseph by surprise, but it didn't take God by surprise. It was all part of His plan, so that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, in the city of David whose heir He was to be. I won't be so bold as to say I know exactly why God chose all the circumstances he did, but it is clear that God did choose them. Nothing that night was merely an accident.

Everything about the life of Christ was deliberately arranged; from His lineage to the place of His birth to its time. It was all orchestrated and most of it had been prophesied beforehand. God was in complete control. And if this all true of Jesus' birth, it is even more true of His death. Easter, like Christmas, had been planned well in advance, for it was planned from the foundation of the world. The details of Christ's trial, death, and resurrection had all been prophesied years before.

To the world, the death of Christ is a tragedy. A good man was falsely accused and sent to a cruel death He did not deserve; a simple, senseless freak of fate. To the Christian, it is not a tragedy. It is a terrible thing, but it is not a tragedy. It was not a senseless waste. It was the result of man's sin, but God was the one in control. Nothing had slipped out of his hands, even in that darkest hour of earth's history. We know the whole story and so we can understand what those at the time didn't; we understand what God was doing; we see the converging strands that God wove together to create Christmas and to create Easter. We don't see the strands of our own life; we don't see yet the end of our own stories. But we do know that God is still in control.

Nothing has slipped out of his hands. From the first moment when God said “Let there be light” to that last moment when the elements melt with a fervent heat, God is in complete control of this world. We don't understand why God allows the things He does; we don't understand why such turmoil and strife are allowed to exist; why pain and sin are allowed to grow seemingly unchecked. And we should never become callous or cold to the tragedies and sorrows of this world. But we do know that God is in control, just as much as he was on that dark night at Bethlehem; just as much as he was on that dark day at Golgotha. God had a plan then, and that plan is still going on.

After the darkness and stench of the stable, came the glory of angels and the wealth of the magi. After the darkness and terror of Calvary, came the glory of the resurrection. And there is coming a time when the darkness of our life will be turned to day. The story which begins on Christmas will end in a New Heaven and a New Earth. That is why we can have peace and joy no matter how bad things are--because we know that God is in control and that he makes all things beautiful in his time.

That is why we can have peace and joy, even when things seem going wrong. Whether it's just the ordinary stress of the holidays or some greater tragedy, the same truth remains. Because of Christmas, God is with us, sharing in our troubles and trials and transforming them into something glorious. Because of Christmas, God's favor is towards us and he has opened a way to Heaven. Because of Christmas, we know that God is in control and will work out everything according to His plan in the end.

I began this article by talking about Longfellow and the despair he felt when he looked at the turmoil and conflict in the world which seemed to drown the sound of the Christmas bells. But that isn't the conclusion of Longfellow's poem. He finishes it with these words: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:/'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;/The Wrong shall fail,/The Right prevail,/With peace on earth, good-will to men.'”