Good News with a Bad Smell
Introduction[1]
This is a story we all know really well. There comes a risk with stories we know really well: we fail to appreciate them. Sooner or later your four-year-old gets tired of the same old bed-time-story and wants something exciting. It’s even true with personal stories. When I was in college, I went on a mission trip to Uganda. During that trip our team built a church building, shared the gospel in a prison, killed a goat, publicly ashamed witch doctors, and got stranded in Egypt. I don’t think I showered for 10 days. I still remember the smell. I shared those stories to Sunday school classes and small groups when I returned. I rehearsed those stories so much that I didn’t have to prepare or even think about what I was saying by the last few testimonies. Maybe the same thing has happened to you with a funny story involving a fishing trip or the story of how you met your spouse. Sooner or later stories become boring if we fail to appreciate the God of all stories. Sooner or later you forget the smell of your clothes and the taste of African-cooked goat and get comfortable.
Redeeming the Unclean
It’s uncertain how long Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem before she went into labor. Most of the time, I assume she went into labor right when they entered the city limits. But the way Luke records this, it could have easily been a few days. If that’s true, then Mary and Joseph were looking for shelter and no one gave them any. The inn was full because others had traveled back to Bethlehem for the census. The inn in Bethlehem was not ideal for delivering a baby in the first place, but neither was a barn.
Our God wanted His son to be born in a stable with cows, and oxen, and flies, and manure. Mary did not have a clean delivery room but a dirty cattle stall to lay on. Joseph’s hands were rough, callused, filled with splinters, and gloveless. Jesus’ first breath of air was not that of an Irish coastal breeze or an Italian meadow, but of a dirty barn.
Don’t be surprised by this. Jesus came into the world for precisely this reason. To see and smell your uncleanness and make it better. This is also why your petty attempts to go through the motions this Christmas do not make sense. Jesus sees you. He sees the sin you’re hiding. He smells the manure you are acting like isn’t there. He sees all your excuses and strategies for hiding. You cover the mess with more hay. You blame the outhouse down the street for the smell. He sees what you’re trying to do, but he still wants your manger.
Jesus came to redeem your sin, guilt, shame, and misery. But you need to give it to him first. You need to see your sin for what it really is so Jesus can turn you into someone better than you are. Show your sin to heaven, the savior is there who turns sinners into saints. Jesus turned a smelly barn into something most of you likely have scattered throughout your homes—a Nativity. The scene of dirt, grime, manure, and afterbirth is now the scene of redemption, hope, and salvation.
It’s only after we live free in Christ that we can live courageously for Christ. It’s only after Jesus cleans the stable, that we know what a stable is for.
Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. Proverbs 14:4
A barn exists to house animals. And animals are messy. You exist to glorify and enjoy God. And you are also a sinner. So, be about the business of courageous living for God and courageous confessing before God.
Conclusion
The first witnesses of the God-man on earth were Joseph, Mary, some cows, and some shepherds. God specifically chose the shepherds to witness the Christ and be the first evangelist for him. Jesus came into this world to save sinners and Jesus came into this world to call smelly shepherds. But the shepherds were too old to make the trip to Bethlehem. No, they were too uneducated to tell others about Jesus. No, how about they were too comfortable that night to be disturbed from their routine. No. They got up and obeyed the Lord. If I had one message for the comfortable American church today it would be “get up off our comfortable seat and obey the Lord.” He’s got a story to tell, and you are the perfect smelly character for it.
[1] The inspiration for this sermon came from Jared Longshore’s recent article, “The Dirty Trough”, on https://jaredrlongshore.com/2023/12/14/the-dirty-trough/