What Would You Do?
Had you lived in Bethlehem that night, what would you have done?
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to “Joni and Friends.” Actually, welcome to Christmas week; just a short time before the 25th when we celebrate Jesus’ birth. But think about it, had you and I been residents of Bethlehem the night that Joseph and Mary came to town, I wonder if you would be celebrating. Of that Christmas night long ago, Martin Luther wrote:
“There are some of us who think to ourselves, ‘If only I had been there! How quick I would have been to help the Baby. I would have washed His linen. How happy I would have been to go with the shepherds to see the Lord lying in the manger!’ Oh yes, we say that. And we say it because we know now how great Christ is. But had we been there at that time, I don’t think we would have done any better than the people of Bethlehem.”
And Martin Luther has a good point, doesn’t he? Because we’d like to think had we seen a young couple wandering into town, the wife ready to deliver with nowhere to go; we think it would have roused our compassion. We’d like to think we would have said to the innkeeper, “Now see here, you must have a room somewhere!” or if that didn’t help, to turn to Joseph and say, “Please come with me to my house.” Or, had we encountered Mary and Joseph with their baby in the stable, we would see ourselves bringing candles to brighten up the place, sweeping the floor, spraying Lysol on the manger, anything to spruce up things to welcome the newborn.
We think that way because now we know who that Baby is. So, sure we would roll up our sleeves and make a difference. But here is the irony: Why don’t we do it now? Jesus says in Matthew Chapter 25 that whatever kindness we extend to any neighbor in need, we inasmuch do it to Him. We can help that homeless couple with nowhere to stay. We can comfort that frightened teenager who’s pregnant with nowhere to turn. We can make a difference for a baby in need. We can use our time and our prayers and our finances and our creative thinking, and our homes. And the Lord, He’s gonna count it all as direct service to Him.
This is the season, perhaps more than at any other time of the year; Christmastime is when we can really brighten the heart of someone in need. Maybe a college student at your church who didn’t go home for the winter break and now he’s only staring at pizza for Christmas dinner—surely there’s room around your table for him. Or how about the elderly grandmother whose son usually takes care of her needs, how about wrapping up part of your turkey dinner for her and doing a kind of, I don’t know, meals-on-wheels delivery? Oh sure, yes, you’re baking holiday cookies, and I just bet some of the guys and girls at the residential facility for people with cerebral palsy would love a big plateful of those cookies.
Finally, this week, in the rush to accomplish everything on your list, do not hurry past the Lord Jesus because He is not in the manger now; He’s there—the Lord is standing in front of you in the form of that college student or that grandmother or the people with cerebral palsy at that center or the homeless couple with nowhere to stay or that frightened teenager who’s pregnant with nowhere to turn or that child, that baby, in need. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to see Him in the lives of these very people. Then ask Him to open your heart, maybe your home, to give His compassion to anyone in need. Just as you would have done, had you been in Bethlehem that night. May God give you, and give me, the spirit, His Spirit, of Christmas. Let me hear from you today on my Facebook page or you can always post a comment on my blog at joniandfriends.org.
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