"THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS by Ron Mehl

When I was growing up in Bloomington, our little church's Christmas pageant was a big-time production. What else do you do during a Minnesota winter if you're not into broom hockey or ice fishing?

Tryouts for the play began as early as September, and kids worked hard through the fall to perfect their roles. All except me. I got the same part every year. They said I was a natural. Said I was the best donkey they'd ever cast for the role.

No, it wasn't 'The Wonder of Christmas' at the Crystal Cathedral, and no, we didn't have camels galloping down the aisles or angels zipping around over the congregation on invisible wires, but we did have sure enough sheep in our production. Borrowed them from the Larsons. We had a dog named Bart, a few ducks, and even a calf. But no one in the congregation had a donkey, and it would have cost us half our budget to rent one, so it was up to me.

Sister Merritt, the perennial director, was neither Steven Spielberg nor Francis Ford Coppola. But the Christmas play was Sister Merritt's life, and she did her best. She made us work on it months ahead of time, and three days into January, she was already plotting improvements for next year's pageant.

I remember like yesterday the parade of angels, shepherds, sheep, innkeepers, and Mary and Joseph. There's a lot to this business of directing a pageant. You have to make sure the curtain goes up and down when it should, that the animals mind their manners in the sanctuary, that the angels and shepherds make their entrances on cue, and that everyone remembers his or her lines. (Not too tough in my role. This was not Balaam's talking dinkey or Mr Ed).

I don't care how experienced you are at Christmas programs, you can't pull off a production like that without a lot of time, money, work, and behind-the-scenes string-pulling and negotiations. You usually have to work around stuff like measles epidemics, frugal deacons, snow storms, Mrs. Lindskoog's hurt feelings, no-show shepherds who go out for wrestling, and the Landstrom family who wonders why you never use *their* sheep. Throw in the lighting, music, costumes, sets, special effects, and sandwiches for Saturday rehearsals, and you have a big deal on your hands.

When you think about it, the Lord is like a great director. He makes sure everything works together in our lives at the proper time, for the proper purpose. He arranges everything, just like Sister Merritt, but He's been planning it for all eternity, not just since last January. He knows when to raise and and lower the curtain, when to feed us our lines, when to put us in the spotlight, and when it's time for the scenery to change.

I've always wondered how the first Christmas Pageant came off so smoothly without a hitch. The publicity had gone out centuries in advance, so there were a lot of expectiations to live up to. God wrote the script, and then produced and directed the whole event, but even dear Mary, the Lord's mother-designate, asked Gabriel, 'How can this be?'

Profound question, Mary.

How could all this be accomplished.? How could a virgin be with child? How could the mighty Son of God,  the eternal Second Person of the Godhead, step from Glory into time and space and be born on earth as a helpless baby? The answer to that question is tucked away in the ninth chapter of Isaiah. One little statement says it all: 'The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this' (Isaiah 9:7).

Webster defines 'zeal' as 'intense enthusiasm, as in working for a cause; ardent endeavor or devotion; fervor or passion.' God's zeal is His relentless, tireless, uncompromising commitment to accomplish His will. Nothing in the universe will stand in the way of the Lord's zeal! No president in the White House or Kremlin, no king on the throne, no army or arsenal. Nothing high or low, big or little, living or dead, visible or invisible will hinder or impede His work. Nothing, nothing, nothing. He *will* accomplish what He sets out to do. He's passionate about it.

When it came to sending His Son to be our Savior and Redeemer, God did whatever He had to do behind the scenes to make it happen.He put Herod on the throne, Caesar in Rome, the Magi in the East, the shepherds in the fields, the angels in the sky. He nudged Caesar to require a tax that would call for Mary and Joseph's presence in Bethlehem. He saw to it that the hotels were filled, so that Christ might be born in a manger.

So it was throughout the life of Jesus as the years went by. With hundreds of Old Testament prophecies about the birth, life, and death of Christ, it still amazes me how God could have pulled off every single detail all right on time, all according to the scriptures. He arranged it - every line, every scene, every word of dialogue. He put it together. It came off on budget, on schedule. Every ancient prophecy of His first coming was perfectly fulfilled. His zeal performed it all.

As I look back over the 'pageant' of my life, one of the greatest comforts is in the realizing that even if I forget my entrance or drop my lines, our sovereign God can still pull off the perfect production. Don't ask me how, because from my perspective, it doesn't make much sense. Somehow, in His good plan, all of my fumbling and bumbling and unfulfilled goals and disappointed dreams in no way keep Him from accomplishing His will. It's the zeal of the Lord that accomplishes things, not the competence and perfection of Ron Mehl. We can all be glad of that!

I think I can appreciate what Shakespeare meant when he wrote, 'All the world's a stage.' That's how I've felt so often in my life and ministry. As if I were standing out on stage all by myself, confused about my lines, ad-libbing, saying the wrong things, and wondering what to do next. There have been times I've forgotten my cues and prayed earnestly for the curtain to fall so I could hide behind it. But somehow, God has worked my missteps and stuttering right into His perfect script. What a masterful Director!

The psalmist wanted nothing more than to declare the Lord's loving-kindness every morning, and His faithfulness every night. Why? Because 'You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep' (Psalm 92:4-5).

Sometimes I wish we could look behind the curtain of our lives and see God's zeal at work. How He moves and arranges people and times and circumstances to accomplish His will. Nothing catches Him short. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He's anticipated everything.

I remember traveling with our little family from Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Los Angeles, California, in our old yellow Chevy. We were young, and Ron Jr and Mark were just boys. As the long miles went by, it was a common occurence for them to chirp from the back seat, 'Dad, Dad, can we stop at a motel that has a pool?'

I'd say, 'Are you kidding? Do you think we're made of money?'

Then ten minutes later, 'Dad, Dad, can we stop and get some candy? Dad, Dad, can we get some pop?'

'Come on now boys, you know we don't have money for that. Do you think money grows on trees?' (That's an old line I'd heard my mom use.) Hey, my little guys weren't asking for the moon. Their request wasn't outrageous. But I said no.

The truth is, I hadn't thought ahead too much. I'd thought about the basics - food, shelter, gasoline - but I hadn't allowed any any room in my planning for extras such as a pool or some candy. We'd saved up just enough for the trip.

How I wish we could do that over. No, we couldn't have afforded the Hilltop Hilton, but if I'd been thinking ahead, we could have found a little Mom and Pop motel with a pool and then had the time of our lives. We could have had a soda or two and a jumbo bag of M & M's and a few more miles along the way.

I'm so thankful God is a Father who has thought of everything. He's pre-planned and pre-arranged every step of our journey. He's prepared to fund the whole project - and even the incidentals. He'll get us from here to there and throw in a few nice surprises when the miles get long and the spirit grows weary.

His zeal will cheer us all the way Home."

Note: The text of this story was adapted from Pastor Ron's book, God Works the Night Shift.