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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

December 24, 2013 LUKE 2:1-20



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!”

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.