Reflecting Verse:
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn,”
Luke 2:7
I consider myself extremely fortunate to give a reflection on the topic “God in dirty places” with the passage from Luke 2:7 “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn,” as the inspiration behind. With the topic given, there is a clarity that dawns on me of the reason why the Saviour was born in such a place for this magnificent event that is remembered and celebrated years and years over.
Brought up in a conventional missionary family, I had the experience and opportunity to visit and live with people with varying occupation and livelihood. In one of such experiences, I came across a family who had cattle-rearing as their main source of livelihood. As children with mischievous and curious habits, we would run around to play in that space afforded to us. For quite some time, the cattle-shed provided a rather clumsy yet lively playground. As kids running and falling all about, sometimes we would have traces of cow dung on our clothes and skins, making us run to the nearest river to wash ourselves.
For me, the smell of the cattle shed was stench and the notion of dung clinging on my clothes and skin were dirt that I needed to wash of. In retrospection, what I considered as dirt was to my friend’s family, a smell they had been living with for years, the smell that was part of their livelihood. What surprised me yet still was the visual memories of neighbours who would flock in the afternoon to collect the ‘dung’ in-order to clean their houses, to make firewood and also as manure for their vegetables. The manner in which they collected the dung was however without any apprehension. I now understand that what I considered as dirty had no dirty elements whatsoever. The concept of ‘Dirty’ existed only because of my construct and limited understanding. Dung offered to them so many purposes, many of which has validity today, many of which I am yet to understand.
The birth of Christ in a manger with dung all around gives validity to our topic ‘God in dirty places.’ I presume, the saviour born in such a dung covered place gives a wholly new validity to the fact that the ‘dirty’ dung is chosen by Christ as a ‘pleasant surrounding’ to be born in. It is justifiable that the place with the dirty ‘dung’ is an environment Christ chose to welcome the poor, the wise and the meek. A place with ‘dung covered surrounding’ is not usually a place that occupies a pivotal stage, but a periphery that is very approachable and within reach.
It is indeed worth mentioning that a child born in a dung covered place filled with the smell of dung is still the child that was born to save the world. Dirtiness of the Dung exists in our minds, not in Christ. Therefore, let this Christmas filter our understanding of what ‘dirty’ actually is and bring our hearts to be more acceptable. Christ chose dung to sanctify the essence of the ‘saviour aura.’ Are we ready to be dirtied to spread the saviour aura?
Author: Rev. Zadingluaia Chinzah
About the Author: Zadingluaia Chinzah hails from Lawngtlai, Mizoram. He serves the Lord through the Lairam Jesus Christ Baptist Church since 2007. He is currently pursuing his D. Th (history of Christianity) at UTC. He loves to read and travel.
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