Marked as Different

There is something special about this time of year. I feel it from the moment we begin to transform our house with greenery, color, and lights. As a Christian, I am acutely aware that Christmas is not about the tree and decorations. But I cannot deny the mood shift that occurs when the house is transformed.

The invention of artificial lights and advances in shipping and storing food mean that we live in a time no longer marked with the rhythm of seasons. Nor, for most Protestant Christians, are our days marked by rhythms and seasons of fasting and feasting as they were for previous generations of Christians. There is little to mark one day from the next in our modern world of work except those two weeks of vacation we might get. The Christmas season is one of the last times marked as special and distinct from other days by our culture as a whole, whether people keep Christ at the center or not. 

Being immersed in the mood of Christmas festivities and the total transformation of my house, I intentionally contemplate the Incarnation and embrace this season of waiting. Is there anything more surprising and miraculous than total power and authority reducing to utter humility and lowliness? Or perfection binding himself to the mired and tainted? With a journal, a book of Advent poems, and my Bible, I contemplate the Nativity story and become enthralled with the themes of waiting and humility.

My contemplation begins with silence. The story begins in the days of Herod the King (Luke 1:5). The angel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zechariah in the temple while he performed his priestly duties. Although it is not mentioned here, we must remember is that it has been 400 years since God spoke to His people. Imagine hundreds of years of silence after having heard God speak and guide since the beginning of time. And when God finally speaks to Zechariah, what did He speak? He told an old barren couple they would have a child, the forerunner to Immanuel. This is not the first time God used an old barren couple to bring about a promise because He wanted there to be no doubt that He was moving. God is seen more easily in the impossible.

I contemplate waiting as I consider Elizabeth. She was righteous, "walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord" (Luke 1:6). Imagine waiting, hoping, and praying for a child your entire adult life. Imagine the disappointment as the years pass. Imagine desperately wanting to hear God's answer but instead silence echoes around you. Have you ever waited a long time for a heart's desire? When waiting stretches to unimagined lengths, our ability to endure and stand in faith is stretched thin. I am sure Elizabeth had moments of despair. And yet, she remained righteous. During this time of Advent, the time of waiting for the arrival, I am reminded of the necessity and benefit of waiting. Is there any hero of faith in the Bible that did not endure a period of waiting? I cannot think of one. We should not expect our faith journey to be any different. Waiting is a practice and mark of God in our lives. May we wait with steadfast joy and never grow weary of doing good.

After waiting, I contemplate humility. The silence was broken when Gabriel, the mouthpiece of God, spoke to Zachariah. Elizabeth did get pregnant, and when Mary visited her, her child leapt in the womb in recognition of the Lord. At a time when women relied on men for their place in society, Elizabeth was the first to speak the news as the first human in history to be filled with the Holy Spirit. "When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. "And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ... And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” (Luke 1:41-45). This unexpected message was delivered from a humble, unexpected place.

Human history was changed, and time turned back toward the Creator through two babies. And this second baby, Immanuel, came to us in another humble and unexpected way. God could have become man without the birth. He could have appeared as a baby on the doorstep, glowing with holiness. If we were writing the story, that is probably how we would have imagined it. But God wrote it differently. Gabriel appeared to Mary and spoke, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus" (Luke 1:30-31). Biologically speaking, humans begin with 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each pair is made from one chromosome from the mother and one chromosome from the father in a perfectly balanced blend. Perhaps this is why God wrote the story with a birth. Jesus was fully man and fully God, but to achieve that, perhaps the DNA had to be half human and half divine. So total power and authority reduced Himself to 23 chromosomes, and then he waited. Waited for those chromosomes to grow his human form. And then that human form was born into the world through the pain of a lowly woman and the violence of birth. Thus, the silence ended once and for all through the cries of a baby, naked, small, and totally dependent on imperfect, tainted humans. This is the greatest declaration of humility I can imagine. If we were writing the story, at this point we would think, this is enough; humility is shown, and we can move on. But God didn't stop there. 

Humility is shown in the location of His birth also. He was born in a stable. A smelly, animal-filled stable. The most unremarkable setting for the most remarkable cosmic event. Animals, mute and not marked by the image of God, were among the first of creation to see God as man. Then God dispatched angels to gather shepherds from the fields, not rich folks from the city whose prestige would lend credibility to their witness. Heavenly hosts appeared to shepherds, who stood on the lowest rung of the social ladder next to tax collectors and dung sweepers. Can you imagine a more inappropriate location and audience for the most beautiful and magnificent event in history? If the vastness of God can fit into a baby, if greatness can dwell in lowly places, and if the most important words ever to be spoken can come from and be said to the lowest of all, then we must see the necessity and importance of humility as Christians. Every year, during the Christmas season, I stand in awe of God becoming man as I contemplate the humility that is infused through the entire Nativity story. 

As my days are marked as different through a house joyously transformed, I thank God daily for this season and the opportunity to contemplate the miracle and mystery of the Incarnation and the lessons within. May God write the story on our hearts, and may the Holy Spirit be intertwined all the way down to our DNA so that we are transformed and marked differently, as His, forever. 

Julie Malecki

Julie Malecki lives with her husband, two kids who have recently become adults, a cat, and a dog in a house with more bookshelves than closets. As of June 2023, she is officially retired from her long-time vocation as a home school mom but still has a heart to encourage and breathe life into the Christian community at large. She is a graduate of the Circe Apprenticeship and received her certificate as a Master Classical Teacher. She is passionate about Classical Education, great books, insightful authors, enduring words, and seeing God’s fingerprint on the cosmos (the well-ordered whole of reality).