The Nativity: A Call to Die to Yourself

Lindsey Mitzel contemplates the Nativity of Jesus as a radical call to dying to ourselves in order to find new life in Christ.

Mac Powell and Matt Maher’s song, “Baptized,” played in the background, and for some reason, the lyrics came to life that day. The words, “die to find new life” stuck in my head. There I was, in the car, and I started considering the places in my life I had taken leaps of faith and died to myself in some way before my life could begin again in new and ultimately, even more fulfilling ways.  

The Nativity: a new life for Mary and Joseph

As I began to pray about this, my heart was drawn to the Nativity, and I wondered what Baptism and Jesus’ birth had in common. In the beginning of the story, Mary’s willingness to bear Jesus is her consent to allowing the life that she has known to pass away, for the sake of something God has planned. In a dream, Joseph sets aside all his own hopes and dreams, which, at the moment, appear dashed, and willingly steps into a role he literally could only dream of.

Joseph’s future hopes and dreams are magnified to an exponential level, as he lays down his own desires for the sake of God’s. Eventually, the couple make it to Bethlehem as Mary is ready to deliver her baby. Jesus is to be born in a stable, because room was not made for them in the Inn (Luke 2:7). Just as people tend to give up their seat for obviously pregnant women today, I wonder at an obviously pregnant woman (in labor), not being offered any spot within the Inn. The Nativity narrative includes those who give over their lives for the sake of God’s will, and those who aren’t willing to give over any aspect of their lives. 

In my prayer, I was most drawn to the shepherds — those first heralded by the angel after Christ’s birth. The shepherds, whose whole livelihood was likely their sheep, seemed to react similarly to the first disciples, who left everything to follow Jesus immediately. In his Gospel, Luke writes: “So they went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16). What the shepherds encountered was so significant, they were probably willing to leave their sheep grazing vulnerably on the hillside, just so they could “see this thing which has taken place” (Luke 2:15). What’s more, they must have left their flock grazing solo for a while. They were so struck by baby Jesus that they then went to tell others (Luke 2:17).  

The Nativity: more radical than sweet

This time of year, I think my habit is to look at the Nativity like one watching a play. However, if I try to place myself within it, suddenly, instead of seeming sleepy and sweet, it seems radical and almost tense. What if Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the angels had denied Him? And for those who said, “Yes,” how were their lives changed forever afterwards? What did the shepherds’ lives look like after they left the stable? How many people believed them when they told them about Jesus’ birth? 

What about me? My life and my heart should be radically changed after encountering the manger. Today is just the second day of Christmas. How can I place myself within the Nativity this year, so that instead of getting caught up in the details of celebrating Christmas, I allow myself to be caught up in the question the Nativity should place on my heart. The picture of Mary and Joseph adoring baby Jesus in the manger isn’t just peaceful and sweet.

Just as Jesus’ coming has always called those who encountered Him to make a choice — continuing their lives as if nothing had happened, or being willing to forsake it all and start anew on a life-changing journey — I believe we’re all called to that same crossroad as we truly encounter the infant Jesus this Christmas. Will I see a peaceful scene, and walk away unchanged another year, or will I open my heart to receive Christ, and be willing to give over everything, including all the ways I tend to distract and distance myself from Him each day? 

As we continue to celebrate Jesus’ coming to us this Christmas, what does your heart need to know so that you can follow Him with no strings attached? Is God asking you to change anything in your life? Is He seeking to root out any distraction or thing that is keeping you from wholly giving over your life to Him?  

Jesus, as the Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds respond to You with haste, in any of my hesitations, please give me the grace I need to give up, let go, and follow You with all of my heart again. Amen. 

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Copyright 2024 Lindsey Mitzel
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