Waiting
There were a lot of piles, lots of packing, and much movement. There were a lot of boxes, lots of paper and several mountains of bubble wrap. People were hauling and hustling about. But it was not Christmas, it was another moving day.
It was one of many moving days. There had been more than we could count over the years. Our belongings would get shifted and packed, unpacked, and packed again.
On this particular day, this particular move, the boxes were placed in a carport. We only planned on living in this house for a few months so paying for a yearly storage facility would be too much money. The carport was the best spot for all the “extra stuff” like the Christmas decorations and the other items not needed right away.
The carport was attached to the house, and though it had a roof, three of the sides were open to all the elements, the weather, and more impressively the critters. Everything God created had free access to the boxes and all their contents… the mice especially found their much-needed warmth and felt at home in the boxes.
The mice loved their new home. . . while we waited for our new home… “they peed all over everything, they pooped on all our stuff” One of the mice, or perhaps it was the entire family, grew hungry.
We are all hungry for Jesus, we have a void that needs to be filled by only Him, the bread of life. Perhaps the mice were a bit confused. They started munching and eating. Much to their dismay, it was not as filling as they expected. Jesus, that bread of life, lying in a manger.
And so the next Christmas, when it was time to decorate the new home, when it was time to hang the ornaments on the tree, and set out the manger. We unwrapped, with care, the pieces one by one.
Can you imagine our surprise when we pulled out baby Jesus and placed him in the stable?
Instead of the beautiful painted ceramic face, it was chewed and white and blank. Destroyed by the mouse family, who thought Jesus would fulfill them— or at least make a great dinner.
“It was as if the mice had read the Psalms. And just like David, you could hear them cry, “You have said, “Seek my face.” my heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” ”
He was soaked in pee and covered in mouse pellets. Surrounded by the smell of animals, it likely wasn’t much different than the stable Jesus, our Messiah, was born in over 2000 years ago.
And so year after year my brother and I put Jesus in the manger and told the story of, “poor baby Jesus, and how his face was chewed off by the mice”
As I reflect, the little figurine of baby Jesus in the manger wasn’t much different than Jesus when he came to earth to do His Father’s will. He was mangled and chewed and waiting for the appointed day. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Waiting.
Almost 25 years later, my mom still put out the manger. Even though my brother and I weren’t home for Christmas every year, she was. Carefully she opened it up and faithfully set it up, one piece at a time.
One day, as she was visiting with her friend Martha, my mom showed her the manger and, just like my brother and I had done year after year, she retold the story of moving, and the boxes and the storing of our belongings in an open carport. She showed her the manger and described our surprise one Christmas when we discovered that the mice had chewed off baby Jesus’ face.
And Martha, not much different from Martha in Jesus’ time, quickly jumped in to serve and help. Without hesitation she found herself offering to spend the time and energy on baby Jesus’ face.
Once the appointed time had arrived, with a very fine artist brush, Martha mixed and matched the paint colors. Little by little she carefully painted back on the face of baby Jesus.
When it was complete, she brought it back to my mom and together they returned the little figurine to his spot in the manger scene.
Finally, after all those years, baby Jesus returned! And, even better he was redeemed, transformed, he had been born again!
He waited year after year for the appointed time. He waited just like we are waiting today. One thing we know for sure, the Lord is not slow to fulfull his promise and for those who are not prepared, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. But we keep waiting, and waiting. Just like baby Jesus did. We aren’t waiting for a freshly painted face, but we are waiting for a fresh earth. A new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. If it seems slow, as the Lord told one of the prophets, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not delay.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
“And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” ”
And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
As long as we need, we will wait, and God, who is faithful and true, will fulfill his promise, He will make all things new. Even a little figurine in a manger scene.
With much love and Merry Christmas to each and every one of you,
Meghan Heaton (Women’s Ministry Director)