St. Francis of Assisi found the perfect way to dramatize the Christmas Story—the story of how the Light overcame the Darkness by becoming flesh and dwelling among us. (John 1:5,14). He gave us the Nativity Scene.

His Vision of the Nativity is simple. A tiny baby. A loving mother. A faithful husband. A homeless family. A humble stable. Lowly shepherds. Lordly kings. Bleating sheep. Singing angels.

Yet his Vision of the Nativity is profound. God is with us, even when we are poor and homeless, even when we find ourselves in “humbling places.” The lowliest family is blessed. Poor people worship God. Rich people worship God. Nature worships God. Heaven worships God.

His Vision of the Nativity is profoundly simple.

Yet, his Vision of the Nativity gives Joy and Peace to all Humanity in the Way of Jesus.

His Vision of the Nativity is not a perfect representation of historical facts. For example, the Magi were not there on the night Jesus was born. (Matthew 2:1-2).

Yet his Vision of the Nativity is a perfect representation of spiritual realities.

For example, meditate upon Joseph.

He didn’t have to stand there. In fact, he had some good reasons for not standing there.

In that culture, marriage was legally and morally binding as soon as you were engaged to each other, as Joseph was engaged to Mary.  Therefore, he had every right to end their engagement when Mary became pregnant before he entered into a sexual relationship with her.

We don’t know how much she told him about the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy. However, we do know that Joseph wasn’t swayed at first when she claimed: “The Holy Spirit came upon me and the power of the Most High overshadowed me.” (Luke 1:35).

His first thought was to divorce Mary quietly—to spare her the public disgrace. (Matthew 1:18-19). Then he slept on it.

I’m a big believer in “sleeping on it.” Don’t rush into a decision. Wait overnight. See what ideas pop into your head. Then see how you feel about it in the morning.

In Joseph’s case, a dream of an angel popped into his head. The angel told him, “[D]o not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20).

The rest, as they say, is history. Joseph found himself caring for Baby Jesus even though he wasn’t his “real” father. Joseph found himself disrupting his life to care for a child that wasn’t “really” his—even fleeing to Egypt with Mary and Jesus to escape King Herod’s evil scheme to kill Jesus. (Matthew 2:13-18).

Therefore, in the Nativity Scene, as Joseph stands faithfully with Mary and Jesus, putting their interests above his own, he is an inspiration for all of us who stand with others, putting their interests above our own.

Like Joseph, we don’t have to stand there. In fact, we may have some good reasons for not standing there.

For example, we must never, never stand with someone if we are enabling them to abuse us or a child physically, emotionally or sexually. We must be wise as well as forgiving.

However, under the right circumstances, we need not be afraid to stand with a lover, a spouse, or a child. Even when we may have some good reasons for not standing there.

Perhaps  our lover or our spouse broke our heart.

Perhaps someone else is the biological parent of the child who will drain our money and disrupt our lives.

Perhaps we are a grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, who is mad that their relative placed this unexpected burden on them.

Nevertheless, like Joseph, we may decide to stand with those who we love.

In the Nativity Scene, Joseph stands there representing all of us who—in so many ways—are putting the interests of others ahead of our own.

We don’t have to stand there. But we are!

In some ways, we aren’t the “real” parent. But—in the ways that count the most—we are!

We faithfully put the interests of the child above our own interests. Like Joseph did.

We faithfully stand with the child—even when standing there drains our money and disrupts our lives. Like Joseph did.

And so, in the Nativity Scene, when we see Joseph faithfully standing with Mary and Jesus, let’s not remember the times that those who we love drained our money and disrupted our lives.

Let’s remember the times that we loved them with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength.

Let’s celebrate Christmas by remembering all the times we’ve seen their faces glow with love, joy and peace.

Merry Christmas!

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To read more about St. Francis of Assisi, please read my blogs: “St. Francis of Assisi Made the Way of Jesus Great Again”, “St. Francis of Assisi’s Vision of the Nativity”, “The Nativity Scene: Baby Jesus”, and “The Nativity Scene: Mary”, “The Nativity Scene: The Homeless Family”, “The Nativity Scene: The Humble Stable”, “The Nativity Scene: The Shepherds”, “The Nativity Scene: The Magi”, “The Nativity Scene: The Sheep”, and “The Nativity Scene: The Angels”; and by reading the chapter “Relying on the Lunar Module” in my book Visions of the Church (published with my book Visions of America), at pages 181-185.

The chapter about St. Francis of Assisi refers to the Lunar Module because I use the flawed—yet triumphant—flight of Apollo 13 as my narrative thread to give an overview of 2,000 years of Church history in only 60 pages.

To read more about the Nativity, please read my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 12-46, including the chapter “Joseph Marries Mary”, at pages 17-22.

To learn how the New Testament Church lit the world—not by might nor by power—but by God’s Spirit (Matthew 5:14,16; Zechariah 4:6), please read my book Lighting the World.

To learn more about putting the interests of other people ahead of your own, please read my blogs “Timothy: A Good Team Player” and “Timothy: A Good Shepherd”.