Broken Beauty

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, now and forevermore.”  Jude 1:24-25

A few days ago as I unpacked my nativity, I was struck again by its beauty—the rich colors of the Magi, the shepherd’s earthy hue, Mary’s soft sweetness, Joseph’s proud relief, and the angel’s heavenly hovering.  But what I noticed even more than its beauty was its brokenness.  You might not see it at first glance, but a closer inspection will reveal cracks, crevices, and chipped off paint.  An errant handstand by one of my offspring a few Christmas seasons ago led to the realization that given the right force, heads (even holy ones) will roll and that ceramic angels don’t fly—they fall.

Copious amounts of Super Glue reattached most of what was missing, but now, instead of perfection, it’s a motley crew around the manger—a bunch of broken people  bowing low before the special baby.  I think my manger scene is perfect. 

It’s really the only way to come, you know—broken and cracked, with parts of what we thought was our best side chipped away by life’s realities of sin, sadness, and disappointment.  Until we acknowledge that we’re mixed up and messed up, we’ll never appreciate the gift lying in the manger, and we’ll never understand what He had to feel to fix us.

Sometimes we like to gloss over the depths of our depravity, applying another coat of pretend to give the appearance of seamless innocence.  Often we fake our feelings, afraid to show our struggles and sorrow and seem weak to those who might not understand.  But none of our facades or refurbishings can hide the fact that a mighty fall has left us in a hopeless dilemma, and when we finally and honestly say so, and shout so, and gladly admit that we are broken, then we can know the healing blessings of His mighty grace. 

Jesus didn’t come to just put us back together; He came to make us brand new. In this world of hurt and heartache as we struggle with our own failures and the faults of others, He will hold our breaking hearts, and one glorious day, the God “who is able to keep us from falling will present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy”—unbroken—to be with Him forever(Jude 1:24-25).

None who are perfect need come.  The motley crew around the manger is beautiful because it is broken.  And because He is whole.