{A young Stigora enjoying the nativity}
Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of nativity sets. Some sit high on shelves or on the mantel to be looked at and not touched: a vintage set from grandparents or a large resin set from a popular artist. Others are set lower, inviting little hands: a simple version carved from wooden blocks, a peg-people set made at the Compass Christmas craft workshop, or a paper set made during the advent in Promise Kingdom—even a Little People set. Over the years, I’ve seen Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus trade in their slow donkey to take a ride in the dollhouse family’s convertible across my living room carpet.
These scenes offer opportunities to talk about the wonder and majesty of the incarnation and the glory of the gospel—God taking on flesh, in the form of a helpless baby, to live a sinless life and then dying on the cross, taking the punishment our sins deserve. But they also provide wonderful opportunities for pro-life conversations.
As the leader of our pro-life ministry, I am often asked, “When should we start talking to our kids about abortion?” I always tell them it’s never too early to talk to your kids about the value God puts on his image bearers and that we are called to bear witness to his truth. We need to help boys and girls—who sooner than you want to believe will be young men and women—develop pro-life convictions that can stand up to the onslaught of pro-choice rhetoric the world will throw at them.
The nativity is a great place to start those conversations. It shows the strength of a young woman’s trust in God with an unplanned pregnancy, the valid role men share in this situation, as well as the role adoption has in the abortion debate.
Mary was a young, unmarried woman, who, when she was found to be pregnant, would surely suffer ridicule and possible death for her apparent unfaithfulness. Like many women who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant today, she faced a choice. Was this child a thing that was getting in the way of her plans for her future? Would she yield her bodily autonomy to willingly carry the child, or would she find some way to abort the will of God? Bravely she trusted God, declaring, “Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Help your children to see Joseph as an example of true masculinity. He didn’t take the easy way out as so many do today. He could have sent her away and divorced her quietly, hiding her shame, which would presumably be his. Instead, he stood as Mary’s protector and defender before the community, willing to take her into his house and provide for her. The reality is that women today, like Mary, want a man who is willing to stand beside them and bear the weight of an unplanned pregnancy, whether that be the baby’s father, a brother, or even her father.
Lastly, this story is a reminder of the beauty of adoption. Joseph and Mary had to trust God for the timing and way he ordained to build their family. Knowing that the newborn Jesus was not his biological son, Joseph was willing to not only give him his name and provide for him, but also to be his earthly father. He chose a brave love and adopted Jesus, conferring on him all the rights of a blood son, just as adoptive parents today do.
This Christmas, may the nativity offer a new opportunity to train our families in the importance of our pro-life, pro-woman, pro-masculinity, pro-adoption convictions, and the dignity of all of God’s image bearers, including those who leap in the womb.
