My Molded Plastic Baby Jesus

I picked up this ridiculously kitschy molded plastic nativity in a second-hand store a few years ago. The three wise men, Joseph and Mary all have light bulbs stuck through their backs so you can plug them in and they’ll light up. It just adds another element of wrongness that is actually what I like so much about this set. That the baby Jesus got covered up by the snow this year is all the more a reminder to me that I don’t do Christmas right.

What I mean by not doing it right is this: Sometimes I send out cards, sometimes I don’t.  Sometimes I put lights on the bushes outside, sometimes I don’t.  I haven’t baked a single cookie, made candy or spent an ounce of energy cleaning the house.  I did not decorate the tree (my daughter did a lovely job). I spent about 3 hours of actual store time shopping for gifts for my family; the rest I bought online.

By many people’s standards, I have not done the essential things that make it Christmas. But I’m not trying to make a statement or rebelling against consumerism. I’m not saying you are wrong if you enjoyed doing the things I haven’t done. I’m not campaigning to “keep Christ in Christmas” or boycotting stores that don’t greet me with “Merry Christmas” or anything like that. And guess what? It’s still going to be Christmas tomorrow.

Why? Because Christmas has nothing to do with what I do and everything to do with what God has done. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor 1:27-29 NRSV).

And what better example do we have than Mary? For God has “looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant” (Luke 1:48). This is good news for those of us with a tendency toward perfectionism, who never quite measure up to our own standards. It is good news for any of us who are afraid we have done it wrong. It is good news for anyone who has tried repeatedly and for anyone who has given up trying. It is good news for those who wonder if they’ve done enough and for those who think they do everything right.

That God in Christ comes to us, to you and to me, without any human doing, not Mary’s, not Joseph’s, not yours and not mine is good news. The Christ child comes to us, for us, to be with us, whether we’ve done it right or not.