The Birth of Jesus
2 1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.
6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
An Event for Everyone
8-12 There were shepherds camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the shepherds talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed.
19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told! LUKE 2 THE MESSAGE
READ THE STORY AGAIN
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. LUKE 2: 1-20 NIV
NOW USE ART to help you connect and reflect on The Story…choose one or two links or take time over the next week to look at all of them.
Slide Show to go with the Lectionary Readings
The Nativity in Art from the National Gallery in London (slides)
The Christmas Story in the Art of the National Gallery in DC (long video)
The Christmas Story in Student Art from Australia (slides)
Story of Christmas told in Sand by Artist Joe Castillio (short video)
Nativity art from around the World
What do you notice? What image strikes you? What are you wondering about as you look at the art and recall the story of Jesus’s birth?
What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you about today? Through the scripture, through the art?
Talk to Jesus about where you are and about the GIFT you need this Christmas. RECEIVE THE GIFT OF GOD WITH US!
Adoration of the child
Poem submitted by Elaine Breckenridge
Advent
I live my Advent in the womb of Mary.
And on one night when a great star swings free
from its high mooring and walks down the sky
to be the dot above the Christus i,
I shall be born of her by blessed grace.
I wait in Mary-darkness, faith’s walled place,
with hope’s expectance of nativity.
I know for long she carried me and fed me,
guarded and loved me, though I could not see.
But only now, with inward jubilee,
I come upon earth’s most amazing knowledge:
someone is hidden in this dark with me.
–Jessica Powers
1905-1988
Following The Star Into the New Year
In January we celebrate Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus. Like them, many of us feel we are on a long journey following a star that is sometimes bright and shining, sometimes completely hidden yet still guiding us towards Christ. 2022 taught us important lessons that will shape the coming year. We sense God wants to do something new in our lives and we want to follow in the right direction.
Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine online Saturday, January 7th 2023 from 9:30 am PT to 12:30pm PT as they help us reflect on the past year and take time to hope, dream and pray for the year ahead. We will engage in some fun practices like chalking the door and interact with each other in ways that strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship.
This is the time of year when we are encouraged by almost everything that passes through our inboxes and magazine reading to “reflect on the past year”. Even in churches we’ll be encouraged to think about that. But when the disciples ask Jesus what is the most effective prayer, he gives what has now become known as The Lord’s Prayer. One of the lines in it tells us to ask for our Daily Bread; not yearly, monthly, whatever, but daily. In other places Jesus is recorded as telling us not to worry about tomorrow, but to cast each day’s cares onto God. He also tells a story about a man who builds a barn to store his grain in which sounds like a really good idea, but then the man is dead the following day; it was a waste of time for him to reflect on his great harvest and plan too far in advance.
There is a practise I have been into which I think is Benedictine, and it is to reflect on my day as I get into bed. As I ponder and reflect on my day I can ask for forgiveness, can forgive others, can see what I need to sort for tomorrow [though I always recheck the tomorrow things the next day to check I’ve got that correct]. It also means if I have done something that I feel I need to put right I can do it the following morning.
There is a multi-million dollar/pound/euro industry of self-help books that talk about living in the moment, living in mindfulness. But you can’t be “mindful” if you’re reflecting on something that happened a few months ago. Surely that is contradicting their own teaching. And as Christians if Jesus is saying ask for what we need daily, then do these practices not contradicting our theology?
Also, when it comes to remembering, even during that same day we put our own filters across our experiences: negative, self-blaming, accusing, condemning, positive, etc. But the further we are removed from an event the more we blur it, the more we put our own emotional memories into it. So if we do the reflecting the same day and get the rubbish cleared out, then each morning really does start as a new day – really does start with us being able to truly live out our daily bread.
The other thing we are encouraged to do this time of year is set goals. Hands up – who then feels disappointed in themselves by February, or sooner, that they haven’t stuck with their very well intentioned goals? Goals are again like the man who builds the barn; full of great intentions but we don’t know what’s round the corner. We don’t know what the world will throw at us. Loads of things I am doing as this year ends I couldn’t have envisioned, and other things I thought might happen didn’t. So no goal setting for me because like I say for one it isn’t leaning on God, isn’t living in the moment, and also leads to disappointment.
Instead, I do have some things I would like to come to fruition in the coming months so I am doing some QEC work around them. And there are other things that I need to ponder, check my heart about, talk with God about, and see what becomes of them.
Though I realise as I come to the end of this post that I do tell a little lie to myself and to you, my reader. I do have a goal. Quite a big goal. It is to continue clearing the junk out of my heart so that I can hear it properly which will mean more QEC, more working with God. This will lead to trusting myself in a deeper way, trusting the Universe in a deep way, and trusting the Creator of the Universe in a deeper way.
All of which can only come about through daily forgiveness of myself and others and daily asking for those things I need to nourish me throughout each and every day.
Find more of Diane’s writings at her websites Aspirational Adventure and Barefoot at the Kitchen Table.
Following The Star Into the New Year
In January we celebrate Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus. Like them, many of us feel we are on a long journey following a star that is sometimes bright and shining, sometimes completely hidden yet still guiding us towards Christ. 2022 taught us important lessons that will shape the coming year. We sense God wants to do something new in our lives and we want to follow in the right direction.
Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine online Saturday, January 7th 2023 from 9:30 am PT to 12:30pm PT as they help us reflect on the past year and take time to hope, dream and pray for the year ahead. We will engage in some fun practices like chalking the door and interact with each other in ways that strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship.
by Cathy Lawton
One Christmas all our young grandchildren came to visit. We enjoyed playing in the snow, baking cookies, sledding down the hill, watching the backyard birds and making pinecone suet feeders for them. And we painted watercolor pictures of nature scenes. People in the neighborhood put lights on their houses and trees. I began to wonder: What do the birds think of all the lights and activities of Christmas season? This story in verse (and the illustrations) came to me. I published it in a book. It tells about Christmas from the perspective of a backyard bird—a story of hope and joy. Here are excerpts:
• • • • •
What Is Coming to Our World?
How a Backyard Bird Sees Christmas
Seasons pass.
For a while we will not have
warm soil and wiggly worms,
bright and colorful garden flowers,
plenty of insects on leaf and wing,
sun shining high across the sky,
and many things that make us sing.
Days get shorter. Air grows colder.
I search harder and farther
for a meal and a warm place to sleep.
The hawk and the fox are hunting too,
so I will hide under a bush.
The chill air tells me
high on mountain peaks
snowflakes are drifting
in piles white and deep.
In this place that is my home
soon will come
sparkling frost and falling snow.
Bells are ringing, I hear singing.
Good aromas are increasing.
What story does the music tell?
Though nippy days turn noses pink,
something good is coming, I think.
When the people open their doors
I smell something warm and spicy.
They fill our birdbath with fresh water,
and the seeds they bring are nice.
Nights are cold, but lights are bright
and they twinkle everywhere.
It looks like stars decided to alight
on trees and houses from the air.
It looks to me—far and near—
like something Good is coming here!
Though parts of nature are asleep,
other parts keep watch together—
plants and stars, people and creatures.
Expectancy fills the air,
as if we are waiting for something.
Children come out in the snow to play,
all rosy and dressed for a winter day.
They gather greenery, seedpods, and cones—
(much as we do when we build our homes).
I wonder what they are going to make?
A bright-eyed girl and boy look my way.
I start to fly… then I hear the girl say,
“Hello, little bird. Here’s a present for you.
Do you know tomorrow is Christmas Day?”
The boy says, “Merry Christmas to you
and your friends, too!”
I like the peanut butter and seeds they pressed
into the pinecones they hang from a branch.
Now I’ll fly to the highest tree
and sing a song of light shining in darkness,
making me feel warm in the cold.
I’ll sing of a future where newness unfolds,
of seeds waiting patiently within the earth,
holding hope for us all—even little birds.
I’ll make my song with God—who lives!
I’ll wing my flight with God—who lifts!
I’ll listen to the glorious sounds,
for Heaven’s love is all around.
Christmas has come!
-Catherine Lawton
Words and Illustrations (photos of pages) excerpted from Something Is Coming To Our World: How a Backyard Bird Sees Christmas (Cladach Publishing, copyright 2021).
Following The Star Into the New Year
In January we celebrate Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus. Like them, many of us feel we are on a long journey following a star that is sometimes bright and shining, sometimes completely hidden yet still guiding us towards Christ. 2022 taught us important lessons that will shape the coming year. We sense God wants to do something new in our lives and we want to follow in the right direction.
Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine online Saturday, January 7th 2023 from 9:30 am PT to 12:30pm PT as they help us reflect on the past year and take time to hope, dream and pray for the year ahead. We will engage in some fun practices like chalking the door and interact with each other in ways that strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship.
The Awe and Wonder of Christmas
by Carol Dixon
I am not usually lost for words (my husband of 52 years can vouch for that) but this Advent I have been dumbstruck with awe and wonder as I contemplate the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas.
I didn’t feel like that at all a couple of weeks ago when I felt far away from God and was facing two emergency blood transfusions due to a seriously low blood count which had somehow been missed by the medical profession despite a number of phone calls – and I called out in my distress to my Godspacelight friends who enfolded me in their love and prayers. Thankfully the long-term outcome is good and I am due to have regular intravenous iron infusions and monthly blood checks until I see my stoma specialist in February. Throughout the scary emergency the prayers of others have enabled me to draw close to God again. So thank you all.
Your prayers and the transfusions meant I was also well enough to lead our church’s Worship on Wednesday (which we call WoW) before the Lay Preachers and Worship Leaders Advent Gathering. I based the service on John 1: The Prologue, that wonderful cosmic beginning to the fourth gospel. (If you want to read the essence of what I said you can find it in my Godspacelight reflection called The Word. Our service was also infused with music including some of the lovely Christmas songs by The Monks of Weston Priory, used with their permission and blessing, and some lovely prayers from CAFOD as well as Sheila Hamil’s wonderful song ‘In the beginning‘.
The service began with words from the first letter of John from the Good News Bible:
We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it. 2 When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us. 3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write this in order that your joy may be complete.
This was followed by the beautiful ancient hymn ‘Of the Father’s love begotten’
Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the world’s began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, he the source, the ending he,
Of the things that are, that have been
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore.
By his word was all created: he commanded and ‘twas done,
Earth and sky and boundless ocean, universe of Three in One,
All that sees the moon’s soft radiance,
all that breathes beneath the sun, evermore and evermore.
Let the heights of heaven adore him; angel hosts, his praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before him, and extol our God and King;
Let no tongue on earth be silent, every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore. [Words: Prudentius (348 – c413)]
We ended with Christina Rosetti’s well known poem ‘Love came down at Christmas’ to the tune Garten.
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
The Holy Spirit was so strongly present during the whole service that at the end there was a kind of ‘holy hush’ as we were all held in the moment. Amazing what God does when all we have to offer him is our weakness.
Another ancient hymn that has spoken to me over the past few weeks is ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’ with its haunting melody. (There is an amazing version of it in Hebrew by Anna Hawkins on YouTube) and the verse which really resonated with me is ‘O come thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine Advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight. ‘ There is so much tragedy & poverty and worry & complaining in our world at present which seems to sound a death knell to joy and hope it is so good to remember that Jesus is our Dayspring – our light in the darkness that nothing can put out. Joni Erickson Tada* in her book ‘A Christmas Longing’ says of this verse: ‘There’s a kind of longing in those words, isn’t there? They are words that could come right out of the depths of your heart when you feel captive by doubt or despair. Maybe you feel your own life could be sung in a minor key just now … But there is more to that song! A triumphant chorus which echoes ‘Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee’ That is the hope that Christmas gives.’
So my prayer for you this Christmas is a prayer of blessing and a song from the Monks of Weston Priory.
May love be the gift you give and receive
May peace be the wrapping that enfolds you
May hope be the flame that burns in your hearts
And joy be the blessing that upholds you.
And may the living word of God fill (y)our lives
this Advent season and always. Amen
© Carol Dixon 2022
Deep into the stillness of night
Deep, deep into the stillness of night,
when the earth slept,
intense with calm and expectation,
the Dawn rose and with light of day,
Word of our God leapt from heaven,
bringing new wholeness and peace:
Emmanuel.
Now, now shall the desert bloom
and the parched land rejoice with flower and song.
The glory of God shall be for all to see:
strength to the hands that are feeble,
courage to those clothed in fear,
our God is near.
Opened shall be the eyes of the blind:
now the deaf shall hear and the lame leap for joy;
let sorrow flee, no longer mourning death,
filled with the joy of this new day:
God has become one with us in Jesus,
the Christ.
© 1978 The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc
Nativity picture by Sian Dixon aged 5
*A Christmas Longing by Joni Erickson Tada publ. by Scripture Press ISBN 1-8762059-59-7
Following The Star Into the New Year
In January we celebrate Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus. Like them, many of us feel we are on a long journey following a star that is sometimes bright and shining, sometimes completely hidden yet still guiding us towards Christ. 2022 taught us important lessons that will shape the coming year. We sense God wants to do something new in our lives and we want to follow in the right direction.
Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine online Saturday, January 7th 2023 from 9:30 am PT to 12:30pm PT as they help us reflect on the past year and take time to hope, dream and pray for the year ahead. We will engage in some fun practices like chalking the door and interact with each other in ways that strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship.
by Christine Sine
Just before Christmas I set up our Nativity set and added Jesus in the manger to my Advent garden. I also took out the Advent candles and replaced them with white ones, instantly converting it into a Christmas garden. Where’s the midwife I pondered as I got ready to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas? Mary’s midwife is not a piece of the nativity sets we use to decorate our homes during the Christmas season, though evidently she did often appear in Ancient Orthodox and Byzantine icons of the event.
While it’s true that Luke doesn’t mention the presence of a midwife in his account of the nativity, it’s not hard to imagine that Mary was attended by one, just as Jewish mothers had been for thousands of year.
Russian icon titled Rozhestvo Gospoda Nashego Isusa Khrista — “the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ
It’s probable that Mary and Joseph had already been in Bethlehem for several days when Jesus was born. Luke says plainly, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem … And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered” (Luke 2: 4-6). There is no sense of urgency in the account, no indication that she was already in labour when they arrived. It is probable that Mary and Joseph had ample time to prepare for her delivery and to seek out a local midwife. It is even likely that some of Joseph’s female relatives were there. After all this was his home town and whether Jesus was born in a cave where animals were kept, or in a family home, as I suspect, in a culture as hospitable as this they would not have been left to birth the baby on their own.
Like so many other figures in the gospel narrative, this midwife is never named, though Orthodox tradition calls her Salome. Sometimes she is depicted in the corner or background of the manger scene. Sometimes she’s preparing something for Mary, sometimes observing quietly, and sometimes giving Jesus his first bath! Irish tradition says that it was Brigid of Kildare who somehow travelled through time and space to be with Mary and deliver this precious child. This unknown woman, was vital to the survival of Jesus.
The Nativity. The Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus in a manger, with Joseph. From the Nagara Māryām, the history and miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 18th century
As I sit here today, thinking of this woman, I am reminded of my early days as a physician in New Zealand when I too helped to bring babies into the world. It was the most precious experience imaginable, one that I never tired of. So I close my eyes and imagine myself transported back 2,000 years to give birth to that special child. After all if Brigid can travel through time I should be able to as well. I imagine myself comforting Mary as she cried out in the pangs of childbirth. I imagine listening for Jesus’s first breath, and hear him give his first cry. I bath him, gently wiping off the blood and fluids of his passage through the birth canal. Then I lay him on his mother’s breast, enthralled by her radiant smile and I beckon Joseph to her side.
It is hard to believe, as we think of this tiny child, so rudely and violently expelled into the world, and now lying quietly in all his vulnerability and dependency, that he is indeed the promised saviour, the son of God. Like me, did the midwife look at his tiny body in awe and wonder filled with the joy and delight of helping to bring to birth a child in whom the divine spark was obviously present. Did she go away changed just as the shepherds and the wise men were changed by their encounter? Did she cherish the face of this child in her mind aware that he was special and would transform the world?
I love that we have 12 days in the Christmas season to contemplate the many remarkable aspects of the birth of Christ. I pray that you too will take time today to think about not just Jesus but also the woman who helped bring him into the world. I suspect she holds a very special place in the heart of God.
by June Friesen
LUKE 2: 1-20
1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. 6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel. 8-12 There were shepherds camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” 13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the shepherds talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed. 19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!
IT WAS TIME
It was time for a census to be taken in a great part of the world including Israel,
There was to be a counting of each person –
Not only a counting of each person
But it had to be according to their ancestral family.
It was then that Joseph needed to go to Bethlehem –
What was he to do – he was soon to be a father –
Not just a father but the father of the ‘long awaited Messiah’ –
Long awaited in the community of Israel, God’s chosen people.
What was he going to do?
How could he leave and not take his wife?
How was Mary going to be able to make this trek?
Oh my – oh my – oh my….
It was time for a baby to be born momentarily –
Mary had indicated that the time for the baby to come was going to be soon –
What if she went into labor on the way?
What if they had to stop on the way and had no place for shelter?
However – they did manage to make it to Bethlehem –
But O the crowds of people milling the streets –
They seemed oblivious to Joseph as he tried to navigate through
Hoping to find shelter and a place for his laboring wife to rest.
Yet everywhere he stopped to check
The answer was the same – ‘Full up, no room, no space at all,’
Until one man was willing to offer his barn where the animals were resting –
And Joseph responded, “Yes, we will take it.”
Joseph got Mary settled in just in time –
And then the little one soon made His appearance –
Gently Mary (and maybe Joseph helped) wrapped the baby
In the strips of cloth she had brought and laid him on a bed of hay.
And then an announcement was made to shepherds –
Out in the fields outside of Bethlehem –
That a special baby had just been born within the village.
And it was to the most unsuspecting people the announcement was first made,
To some shepherds who were quietly getting ready to rest for the night –
In the hills outside of the city – and they had no doubt a fire lit
For warmth as well as protection from predators of their sheep
When all of a sudden! It happened in the darkness of the night!
A Light – not just a star – but a brilliant light –
And then there appeared what? – An angel –
Who then spoke with a message just for them that night.
“I am coming to tell you now,
That in Bethlehem there has been born
A Baby who is ‘The Messiah’ – The Savior of the World –
You will find Him in a cattle barn with His parents.’
And then – WHAT – O MY!
The sky filled with many, many angels – singing in a chorus:
Glory to God in the highest –
And here on earth –
Peace be to all of humanity.
Now it was time for the baby’s first visitors – shepherds at that –
Why wouldn’t it be that the family in Nazareth had been told to visit?
Why is it the Jewish leaders were not told to visit?
Why is it that it was shepherds – I wonder, do you?
The angel had told them to go and they would find a baby –
Not just a baby but a Messiah –
A Savior for the whole world –
What could this be? How could this be? Hmmmmm….
And so it was that they found this baby –
Yes, and they found Him with his mother Mary and father Joseph –
And they then believed what the angels had said.
It was then many heard about the shepherds’ discovery…..
Oh my, oh my….these shepherds had now found their tongues of praise,
And they no doubt were dancing and prancing – singing and shouting –
“Praise God – The Messiah is finally here. Praise be to God the Father.”
It was a time that Mary thought mindfully and deeply –
As she quieted or at least attempted to quiet her heart –
And thought – “Why/how did the shepherds outside the city know?
Why – – will others now come too, or will they just think the shepherds were dreaming?”
It was then a new beginning for God to be revealed to humanity –
And it certainly seems as if He chose a very unlikely way
With unlikely circumstances and definitely many unlikely characters –
So how would humanity respond – would they respond with an eager faith like the shepherds?
Now it is time for humanity (you and I) today to consider –
Is this really the Messiah promised to the nation of Israel?
Why was He not born to a priestly family so He could be raised in the Temple and in the proper religious instruction?
What a way for God to try to make an impression upon humanity – poor, humble and lonely birth that it was for His Son.
Now then each person is offered opportunity to discover this gift –
This one time gift that God gave to and through humanity
To make it possible for Him to once again have a relationship
Like He had planned when He created Adam and Eve in the garden.
Now it is time for humanity to consider once again –
This birth that night in the strangest of conditions
Was not just a simple event that happened –
No, it was an event that would and should change the course of our world forever.
Yes, consider if you will how you as a follower of God
Have come to believe this story for your own spirit and well-being,
Does it make a difference, really make a difference this Christmas?
Or is this Christmas just another family celebration and party?
Will you receive the angel(s) into your presence –
Will you entertain their message and song –
Will you respond to their invitation to come or
Will you think you had a dream that surely could not be real?
Will you consider that God does things His way?
Will you give God an opportunity to reveal Himself to you today?
Will you believe that God’s greatest desire today (and every day)
Is to come and live in your home, your being – and continue to bless you with His presence until life on this earth is finished and done.
Come Lord Jesus, come and be at home with me today –
Come and fill me with Your presence of love, peace and joy –
O and come and fill me with forgiveness of myself and others too –
Yes, come Lord Jesus – I receive a renewed gift of Your Presence today.
In Jesus Name, amen and amen.
All photos and writing by June Friesen. Scripture is from The Message Translation.
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