The Cost of Christmas

Christmas in a formerly atheistic, now predominantly Muslim nation is a very different experience than in historically-Christian America. Instead, New Years is the major holiday. In my Muslim neighborhood, people are decorating New Years trees and putting up New Years lights. December 25th will be a day just like any other for most people in Albania.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year in the States with everybody getting into the decorations, festive music, TV specials, concerts and Christmas baking, but in my neighborhood it takes some effort to "get in the spirit of Christmas." I re-watched the movie, The Nativity Story, to help get myself "in the spirit." It focuses on the lives of Mary and Joseph when they suddenly found themselves called by God to an incredibly difficult task.


Having now experienced life in a culture where families still choose husbands for their daughters, I view Mary in a deeper dimension than before I lived in Albania. She wasn't from a wealthy or influential family. She helped with the housework, laughed with her girlfriends. Then one day out of the blue she was told by her parents that she would marry a man who lived in her village - a man quite a bit older than she, whom she hardly knew. It was a common situation for girls of her day. A girl's hope for a good future was by marrying a husband of good reputation who worked hard to provide for his family.

Next Mary's life really took on a new dimension when Gabriel appeared to offer God's special assignment for her. "You have found favor with God," he told her. What greater honor than to deliver the Son of God into the world and mother Him. Ordinary as she was, Mary was certainly a unique individual, as no other woman ever alive has ever been given such an honor. But what I find so interesting about Mary is that her acceptance of this commission would cost her dearly.

Think about it: If you saw a pregnant teenager yet unmarried, what would you assume about her, no matter what she said? Mary knew that by law she could be stoned to death. She knew there was a very good chance Joseph would reject her. She knew that she would have to face the condemnation of her parents, friends, and entire community as they recognized her pregnancy. Still, she said,

"I am the Lord's servant."

Maybe this had such a big impact on me because I tend to worry so much about what people think about me. I have been challenged recently by this thought: Who do you serve? Do you seek to please people or God? Galatians 1:10 states, "Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." Mary placed greater value upon God's words to her rather than her reputation. His opinion of her trumped others' opinions. Not that she didn't struggle. She was human, so she surely faced inner fears and struggles. Yet she believed what God told her.

Then there was Joseph. Matthew wrote that he was a righteous man, but we don't talk much about him. What would he have felt, watching his wife go through pregnancy with a baby that wasn't his? As I watched The Nativity Story I recognized the great difficulty it must have been for Joseph to find himself in Bethlehem with his wife in desperate need of a comfortable place to give birth, and all he can provide for her is a smelly barn of animals. That would surely humble a man. But he believed what God had told him and did what was necessary to obey Him.

God asked two insignificant people to carry out an extraordinary task because they were obedient. I wonder if Mary would have said yes to God had she known that 33 years later she would have to watch her son be cruelly tortured and killed. We honor Mary and Joseph, remembering their willingness to raise the Son of God, because it was not without struggle. They were human; they doubted, they even sinned. Yet what great honor they have received from the Lord of the universe because they submitted themselves to His purpose.

I wonder whether we consider the cost of what it means to obey and follow Jesus. I wonder whether we are even willing to let Him ask us to follow Him. It will cost us, but there is a future glory God will reveal in us that far outweighs any present sufferings we may endure for His sake.

What is He asking of you? Do it, knowing the Savior of the world gave Himself for you first, and He will be with you to the very end.

Hang on, dear brothers and sisters!