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Earlier this week, my daughter and
I were talking about late night Christmas Eve services. Christie realized
she could not remember a time she had not attended the late night Christmas
Eve service. That caused me to remember the only time I have not attended
the late night Christmas Eve service is when she was 18 months old. We both
agreed that, for us, a lot of the Christmas “experience” is worshipping at
the late night Christmas Eve service. There truly
is a poignant stillness about this time of night, as we stand on the edge of
the day when we celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a
holiness that is so palpable you want to reach out and embrace it.
Have you ever thought about those who were present at the manger the night
Jesus was born? Have you ever wondered about what they were thinking and
feeling… to see and be a part of the action that
took place at the manger? Although the author of the Gospel of Luke has
written the nativity narrative so proficiently and beautifully that many of
us, if called upon, could recite the verses, these simple, yet eloquent
words in no way capture the action and drama that occurred that holy night.
What did it mean to Mary,
to be present at the manger?
Mary, a wide-eyed teenaged girl, giving birth to the son of God. As a woman,
I find the words, “and she gave birth to her first-born son” almost
humorous. It’s as if… poof!
Mary had a baby. Nothing about the angel
visitation. Nothing about wondering how Joseph
would react when he discovered that she, his betrothed, was pregnant…
knowing it was not his child. Nothing about
how Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her womb upon hearing Mary’s voice.
Nothing about the neighbors’ furtive glances at her growing belly
when she arrived back from visiting her cousin Elizabeth, herself pregnant
long after a woman normally could become pregnant.
Nothing about the hours of labor that normally occur with a first birth.
Just the simple words: “and she gave birth to her first-born
son.” The only hint that Mary might have been just a wee bit overwhelmed by
all that had occurred to her was again just a few simple words: “But Mary
kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
What did it mean to
Joseph, to be present at the manger?
Puzzled, but faithful, Joseph, who kept Mary close
to him despite the rumors and threats that no doubt accompanied her
pregnancy. Joseph,
visited by an angel who tells him he will be the earthly father of the Son
of God. Joseph,
traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem with his very pregnant betrothed,
probably expecting to find a place to stay with relatives, only to be
shunted off to the area between the house and the stable
because others from a higher rung on the Palestinian social ladder
had claimed the upper room where guests normally stayed.
Not even a woman who had reached full-term in her pregnancy could
trump the Palestinian social ladder. (Perhaps, 2000 years later, things
haven’t changed as much as we would like to think they have.)
Joseph, who may have wondered if he had really lost his mind, when
later, he and Mary and the baby are visited by a rag tag bunch of stinky
shepherds, who came themselves because an angel had told them: “for to you
is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
What did it mean to the
shepherds, to be present at the manger?
Shepherds, the lowly and despised of society. The
ones for whom even the religious leaders had nothing but disdain because
they worked at a job that demanded they work on the Sabbath, thereby
breaking Jewish law. The same shepherds who would
rather break the Jewish law than leave their sheep unattended to be prey for
larger, stronger animals. Those shepherds left
their flocks they were keeping watch over and went to find “the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Of
course, they may have selected one of their number to stay behind and watch
the sheep. I’d rather think that they figured if
God would speak to them through an angel, that same God was fully capable of
taking care of their sheep while they did what God told them to do!
What did it mean for the
animals, to be present at the manger?
I realize that some of us, more than others, tend to foist human
characteristics upon animals. There is even a legend about the animals
present at the manger talking the night Jesus was born.
But don’t you suppose among the lowing of the cows, the bleating of
the sheep, the continuous scratching of the chickens, there was some
recognition by the animals present that something unusual was happening? We
know animals can “sense” things. We’ve heard of the elephants that ran to
higher ground just prior to the tsunami. As powerful as that tsunami was,
don’t you think the power of the tsunami paled in comparison to the holy
power present that quiet, still night in a manger in the city of Bethlehem
and that the animals present at the manger sensed that holy power?
What happened at the manger that night was not Christmas card sweetness, it
was nitty-gritty reality; a reality that gave
birth to the present at the manger. You see,
while Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the animals were present at
the manger, there was also a
present at the manger. A
present for which I, as I am sure is true for you, am very thankful.
As the lead pastor for pastoral care in this congregation, daily I talk or
visit with members and visitors. I can testify to the fact that Christians
are not immune to the vagaries of life. This past
year, in this congregation, some of us have
experienced death, divorce, life-threatening illnesses, unemployment,
financial challenges, depression and despair. If
it can happen, more than likely it has happened to someone who has worshiped
in this space this year. And now, at Christmas, it is like someone has taken
that pain and magnified it exponentially.
This is why it is so important to me to be here. Even
those years when I was sitting there where you are
instead of standing here where I now am.
Here late on Christmas Eve night so I too can be
present at the manger. So that, just as I
gulp in water when I’m working in my yard on one of those 90+ degree days in
mid-summer, I can greedily gulp in the love that
was born that night. For
I, and you, need all that present in the manger gave that night to
live all the other 364 nights and days of the year. So
that I, and you, can have hope even in the face of seemingly insurmountable
challenges. So that I, and you, can present
Him to a world that hungers and thirsts for the
love and joy that only He can give.
What does it mean to you to be present at the manger?
What does the present at the manger mean to you?
The time is drawing close. The baby’s first
birthing cries are about to be heard. The present
at the manger is waiting…to
be presented to the world! Amen. |
