The Wild Yes

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered.

"May it be to me as you have said."

Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:38

"When Joseph woke up,

he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him

and took Mary home as his wife."

Matthew 1:24

I'm looking for a nativity set right now. For all my Christmas decor (currently put away in bins) this centerpiece of Advent worship is missing. I've been hoping, that if I find one this season, I can set it up on a quiet shelf and let it say what it needs to say to me.

But I'm having a hard time finding one that will do that.

This one pictured is lovely, and set just so with the lights and such. I love the adoring expressions on the faces. But it's not mine, and it's not exactly the rustic-real depiction I'm going for.

I'm picky about this.

I doubt I'm going to find exactly what I'm looking for, but the reality is that, parental adoration notwithstanding, I imagine Mary and Joseph's faces to be more anxious. As in "What in heaven's name have we gotten ourselves into?"

Months ago now, they both said yes to something so unbelievable people, well, didn't believe them. Even Joseph, at first. It took visits from angels to convince them.

How outrageous!

To be tasked with bringing the Messiah to the world. To be asked to nurture the redemptive arch of God's ultimate ethic. To lay aside their own plans for a tidy, unassuming life together, and instead embark on a journey that would see them being chased by a crazed monarch, and landing as refugees in a place far from home. And that was just the beginning.

Of course they didn't know all that in detail when they said their yeses. But, come on, the barging in of the angel would have been a fairly big clue that they were saying yes to something with a high disruption risk.

I admire their courage. And they inspire me, both of them. They set a standard for me. I want a similar story to be written into my own life. Saying yes, and seeing where it takes me.

Saying yes to the impossible task of bringing the Messiah to the world. Of nurturing the redemptive arch of God's ultimate ethic. To lay aside my own plans for a tidy, unassuming life, and stepping boldly out into all that the yes requires. To say the yes that makes me ask, "What in heaven's name have I gotten myself into?"

I'll keep looking for my nativity set.
If not for this year, for next when, Lord willing, we'll be all settled into our new little house.
I think it will go on the mantle.