Believe in Believe (Ted Lasso Advent - Part 5 - Christmas Edition)

A number of years ago I was telling the Christmas story to a group of youth in the drop-in center I worked. When I got to the part of the story where it said that Mary was pregnant but was a virgin one of the girls sitting up front said, "This story isn't even legit." My young friend's skepticism was not unfounded. The Christmas story with its virgin birth, Joseph's abstinence, angelic appearances of all kinds, and babies sleeping in livestock feeders, just to name a few things, is a strange story and can make one wonder if it's legit.

There are a number of leaps of faith that take place in the accounts of Jesus' birth. In Matthew we follow Joseph and see him decide to step out in faith and take Mary to be his wife, even though it would have been easier to just dismiss her. Later in the story Joseph has to again make a bold step by fleeing to Egypt based on a dream. In Luke, we first witness Zechariah and Elizabeth's faith in believing that they were finally having a baby in their old age and then we see Mary's leap into the unknown of having a baby via the Holy Spirit. As we read we see person after person put in the position of choosing to believe what they see, or responding "This isn't even legit." 

Something has occurred to me this Advent/Christmas. Did Matthew and Luke write their accounts of Jesus birth in such a way that we, like Mary and Joseph, must to step out in faith and choose to believe the story or not? Is the way the story is told inviting us to follow in the steps of Joseph and Mary and believe something that seems too strange to be real?

In the very first episode of Ted Lasso coach Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) hangs a sign above the office door that simply says "Believe." The sign stays in that place till the last episode of season two when it is torn down by Nate (Nick Mohammed). The sign itself becomes something of a character on the show as much as the message Ted is trying to get across to his team. As Lasso addresses his team in the locker room (season 1 episode 10 - The Hope That Kills You) the coach talks about belief,

"See, I believe in hope.
I believe in belief.
Now, where I'm from, we got a saying too, yeah?
A question, actually. "Do you believe in miracles?"
Now, I don't need y'all to answer that question for me... but I do want you to answer that question for yourselves. Right now. Do you believe in miracles?"

Is it possible that Matthew and Luke are asking the same question to us that Coach Lasso is asking his team? As we read the Christmas story are we being asked to believe? Do the accounts we have of the Messiah's birth confront us with our belief in belief itself? For me the answer is yes to all those questions.

Matthew and Luke tell a story that in someways doesn't even sound legit and as they do they invite you to make the same leap of faith Mary and Joseph did. On this Christmas Day, as you read and reflect on that first Christmas, do you believe?