1In those days a
decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All
went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem,
because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be
registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
HYMN: O LITTLE TOWN OF
BETHLEHEM #44
6While they were
there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And 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.
HYMN: AWAY IN A MANGER
24/25
8In that region there
were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,
the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands
of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
HYMN:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing #31
15When the angels had
left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go
now to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the
manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about
this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and
seen, as it had been told them.
HOMILY
I can not tell you
what it is to be a mother, like Mary, or a father like Joseph. What I can tell
you, is how it feels to be the Shepherds. I can tell you how it feels when you
are invited to share in other people’s children. I still feel special and
surprised when the children of this church know my name. When Silas runs up
with a story to tell, or Alex explains some far away fact, or Maddie gives me
jumping-dancing-hugs, or when Coleman lays belly up smiling for me to tickle
him again and again, or when little Kathryn or Magnolia draw me pictures which
I hang in my robe closet, what I see right before I head to worship, or even
when Kate comes up to me in the ski lodge, or Tanya takes the time to include
me in a conversation. It’s like this in the church, not only for me as the
pastor, but for all of us. We baptize children, and they become a part of our
family, but it takes those parents first allowing and welcoming us to know
them, and to help raise them, and to get to enjoy them. The other night
caroling at the nursing homes, I am sure it would have been easier for the
parents to keep their kids at home: five times in and out of cars - hoisting
and buckling, unbuckling and parking lot handholding, five times jackets and
mittens and hats on and off and holding it all and keeping track, five times
corralling in unfamiliar and kid unfriendly rooms, to end up at the manse
which, regrettably, is more suited to a ladies tea than preschool running
around. But I tell you, the kids made the night, they reminded us how fun
jingle bells is, how exciting musical instruments can be, how any room is a playground
and any house hide-and-seek-able. We adults were singing, but those in the
nursing home watched the kids, and honestly, we carolers were also watching the
kids, because in their play, and in their joy, was God, was Christmas, and we,
the shepherds, were welcomed to share.
You see, the angel did
not just come and let the shepherds know Mary and Joseph had a child. The angel
came and said, “to you, is born this day,… a child.” I think of my mom, and the
story of the phone call that let them know I was theirs to adopt. A handful of
women were over sitting in the living room, and my mom got up to answer the
phone. Minutes later she was squealing and excitedly jumping, and wrapped
herself up in the phone cord. (Little did she know that I was no Jesus, much
less an angel,) but what she did know, was that a child had been shared with
her. I wonder if this is what the shepherds felt. I wonder if they felt
invited in, if they felt that joy. If jumping around in a phone cord was
response to my birth, can you imagine the shepherds’ to Jesus? I have always
thought of them as calm, with their sheep, and staffs, but perhaps they too
jumped up and down, perhaps they too squealed with delight. Perhaps, they too,
felt a prayer had been answered. Can you imagine what it must have felt like to
have the angel tell them, “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child.”
These was not a mere phone call, a text with height and weight, a Facebook post
with photos. This was a come on down to the hospital, and here are the
directions to get there. This was the welcome for close family members and
friends and here the shepherds were receiving it.
I know this
overwhelming feeling. Today, I got text from my former husbands’ sister, who
still calls me Auntie Katy. They were thinking of me today, knowing this
service was on my plate, and in a half joke, of inspiration on this birthing
celebration of Christmas, she fittingly sent me the video of her birthing her
second child. She welcomed me into the hospital room, and I watched her husband
catch little Mia, and place her on my sister-in-law. Could there be a more
intimate moment? Could you welcome someone into the life of your child more,
then to welcome them into the very first moments of that child’s life? This
truly is the welcome of God. I do not deserve such welcome, no one can.
Therefore, it is such grace to be afforded it, to be welcomed into the life of
a child. Likewise, the shepherds would not have expected to be invited to the
birth. The shepherds are the outcasts, they live out in the fields, in that
dirt and the smell of livestock, they are night workers of their society, the
grocery store stockers, the bartenders, the night cleaning crew, the night
nurses. They would not have been welcomed to any regular birth, much less
welcomed into the life of a child, to love and enjoy as their own. No wonder
they go right then.
“Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went
with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.”
No wonder, I open my
arms and ask for a, jumping-dancing-hug every time I say goodbye to Maddie. No
wonder, I have kids (and some of you adult’s,) pictures taped inside my robe
door. No wonder the elderly at nursing room dinner tables watched the kids
play, because we were welcomed in, and when we get the chance we look to see
this thing which has taken place, we go with haste, we find the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. This babe, born to us, not merely
Mary and Joseph’s child, this was not merely God’s child, though it was these,
it was also the shepherds’ child, and our own. And though these things make us
speechless, there is a way we cannot but tell the story.
I don’t know anyone,
who having seen a child newly born, or do something super cute, does not go
home and share the news. It is the reason that the stories those in this church
go home telling, are the ones where one kid or another did something in
worship, be it Jake answering a question in a creative way, like monster trucks
in heaven, or Michael lighting an Advent candle, or Bryson reading a story
about bullying. When we have witnessed a child, we witness God, and we are
changed, and go forth to tell the story. We someone shares their child with us,
we in turn share the story, and thus share God with others.
“When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it
were amazed at what the shepherds told them. The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
Long, long ago, these
mere shepherds were welcomed to the birth, were given a child born to them, and
in turn they shared with all. Years and years later, we find ourselves here, in
our own nativity, coming in from our fields at night, to find this child born
to us, to receive the promise of good news and to feel great joy, the joy of
children, the joy of this child, a child born to you. Yet, like God, like Mary
and Joseph, like the shepherds, this is not a child to keep for yourself, it is
a child to share.