Date: 06 Dec 2000
Time: 22:54:51
Last year I watched the new year come in on TV in different time zones. I remember vividly seeing the clock strike Midnight in Bethlehem. They released doves the wonderful symbol of peace. But simultaneously they shot fireworks. The doves were franticly scurrying around trying to avoid the display of fire. It made me think of the line from the hymn O Little Town of Bethlehem "In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light: the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee toninght" & Righteousness and peace shall kiss one another - JG
Date: 18 Dec 2000
Time: 15:22:32
To JG...I recall watching the same celebration of the new year in Bethlehem. A thought struck me as I watched the frantic doves. Isn't it so with Christmas, a schizophrenic season of both peace and disturbance, of people seeking the "glory of our great God and Savior" amidst the impious and worldly, of both quiet shepherds and ruthless King Herod seeking the same Jesus, of the saint and the sinner wrestling within me? I pray that the dove will prevail. Indeed, it has. For Christ has brought light and life to all, risen with healing in his wings.
Date: 18 Dec 2000
Time: 15:24:01
Forgot to sign my comment...CH E, Ft Belvoir
Date: 18 Dec 2000
Time: 17:04:40
The phrase that sticks out for me in this passage is when the shepherds say, "Let us go now to Bethlehem..." Isn't that what advent is about, a journey we take each year to Bethlehem to see the Christ child once again. Unfortunately there seems to be more and more distractions on that journey. What if the shepherds had decided that the angels had a good idea, but they were too busy that night to make the journey. Who would stay and watch the sheep? They had not completed all of their Christmas shopping. The weather was a bit frightful! What excuses do we have to stay home from the journey. Sometimes the obstacles are out of our control. It is interesting that the first two posts were about the celebration in Bethlehem. I heard on the news the other day that Bethlehem has scaled back on their celebration this year because of the violence and unrest. What if the shepherds could not go to Bethlehem because it was too dangerous? Just my initial thoughts. BAD in KS
Date: 18 Dec 2000
Time: 20:03:17
18 DEC 00
Someone told me that the USPS wouldn't present any "new" Christmas stamps because of the imminent one cent hike for stamps. We have the traditional Mary with child. I might review some of the depictions in previous years (Stamp Guide reveals many "secular" Santa and elves variations, with an almost annual angel, creche or the like). They do a good job sanitizing the manger, delivery and the like (not to mention traditionally euro-centric art) but I can well imagine Mary ponerering "these things in her heart." Well, there is one other stamp available now, has been for months. It talks about improving the world, building a home... it's an "adoption" stamp. Now there's something that could preach... not so much the effectual adoption of Jesus by Joseph, as the beginning of the Good News for all people, summarized in Titus 2:11, the revelation of God's grace for salvation or, as Ephesians 1 puts it more specifically, God's intention--and our "destiny"--to be ADOPTED as God's children. USPS Christmas stamps have "cash value"; stamps of another sort provide a mark, an "authorization", a giving of distinctive character, a certification. Although Christmas is just the beginning, in Christ we have been certified as God's own children. Peter in WI
Date: 18 Dec 2000
Time: 23:45:14
Thanks for your comments. I know I'll be making use of many of these thoughts.
In the morning, I'll be speaking about "What does it take to get to the stable?" For Mary and Joseph, it didn't just take the edict of the emporer. It took being rejected and cast out because there was "no room." For the shepherds, it took, literally, an act of God. For Jesus, it took love to go to the stable. What will it take for us to get there? What must God do to get us to the stable, and to worship His Son?
In the evening, I'll be elaborating on the "no room" theme. The title I'm battling with is, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Other Misfits." Jesus was a misfit, and was cast out. The lack of grace in our world is demonstrated when we cast out those who are "not acceptable to us." But wouldn't this couple, the woman clearly ready to deliver, and Joseph, having been married to her only a few months, have been somewhat of a misfit in many of our churches? Or would we warmly receive this couple who are obviously in need? We are all misfits if we choose to follow this Jesus, and we, too, may be cast out.
Don't know if you'll all agree, but I am still working on it. Any thoughts are welcome. JG in WI
Date: 19 Dec 2000
Time: 00:40:19
Bethlehem means: "City of Bread"
Jesus said "I am the Bread of Life", I am Bethlehem ...
To go to Bethlehem is to become a participant in the life giving mystery of our Lord's birth, life, death, and resurrection ... not to be an objective observer ... but one who has embraced the reality of this birth
tom in ga
Date: 19 Dec 2000
Time: 03:08:52
I'm meditating this week on the idea that this passage doesn't center on the birth of the baby. Only two verses are devoted to Jesus' birth. The majority of the pericope is about the message -- as delivered to the shepherds, and as told by the shepherds after they'd experienced the nativity. The simple shepherds were the first people outside the family to meet the Son of God. They followed the "call" and left the stable, changed and telling the message to others. Already, a model for discipleship. And, if a gift indicates how the giver perceives the recipient, then what does this event say about God? There's another message! Anyone else thinking along this line? MTSOfan
Date: 19 Dec 2000
Time: 13:40:32
tom in ga,
I love it! "city of bread" -- it's perfect for the latenight communion service. Could you "unpack" the language a bit for me? I always thought that "beth" meant 'house', but I've fallen away from my sacred languages woefully.
Much appreciated, and the blessings of the season to all,
SueCan
Date: 19 Dec 2000
Time: 14:15:47
I believe Bethlehem means "house of bread" and the area was known for grain farming long ago. A few Decembers ago when I viewed a huge collection / display of mangers from around the world - which was fascinating in itself because each culture and country presented the figures in their own ethnic way (how different the inuit people made tehir manger from the Amazon people)- how appropriate for the WORD which fits every time and place and language and way life... anyway, at this display there was one I believe from Spain or Mexico, and it was made with small clay creche figures placed in the side of a hollowed out loaf of homemade bread, which related to the meaning of the place, in Hebrew - beth lehem, house of bread. Jim in Ct.
Date: 19 Dec 2000
Time: 17:35:04
The following is not a true story in that the story, unlike the other stories I have offered, did not actually take place within my personal experience. However, I fully believe that this is a story of truth, reflecting the truth of the streets and those places where Christ is being born, even today.
Another Christmas Story
Mary shuffled slowly down the dark, deserted street, pulled her tattered coat closer about her and cursed the hateful wind. It had no heart and knew only to blow against her progress with a numbing, knife? like edge ?? cutting her emaciated body to the bone. She pushed on, forced by her own condition. She felt the frantic struggle which had begun deep in her womb. The time was too early. She knew it had only been five or six months, perhaps seven but surely, no more than that. Still, the uncooperating presence within her punctuated her need for haste. "Where was that damn clinic?" She hurried on. Old newspapers, discarded sandwich wrappers, and other litter, a sign of bustling urban life, tumbled unhampered down the cold streets. Hanging at the intersection by the empty drug store, the traffic light swayed in the stiff breeze and cast an eerie glow on the vacant buildings. An empty McDonald's bag, grease stains on its sides, fluttered in the bare branches of the lilac bush.
The grass in the church yard, like the lilac bush, was showing the death?face of winter. The church stood in the midst of this wintry onslaught as it had for so many years. Its strong red?brick sides stood as a battlement against the hostile night. Just inside the weathered rod?iron gate, there on the brown grass, was the Christmas Scene. It had been painstakingly built by some of the men of the church and in just a few moments would be the stage for a joyous reenactment of that Holy Story. It would be a glorious affair replete with singing choirs, wondrous costumes, and a bright twinkling light suspended over the make believe stable. To the side of the church, the parking lot was almost filled to capacity and a large crowd had gathered on the sidewalk, spilling onto the edge of the street. They drank mugs of steaming cocoa and hot apple cider, and buzzed with eager expectation. A farmer and his burly son were leading two sheep and a cow to the stable. It was hoped that the animals would provide a sense of realism lacking from the pageants being presented at other locations on this special night.
Inside the church, men and women made final adjustments to their costumes. The children, who were to play the part of the shepherds, received last?minute instructions from the play's director. "Remember, you must look frightened when the angels first appear." All were soon called to their places and waited impatiently at the door as the clock ticked down the final minutes. Some nervously whispered, the children giggled excitedly, and the veterans of past pageants wore the smug expressions of having done it all before.
The girl struggled on but her pain was coming in ever increasing waves and her frantic steps were becoming more and more difficult. Making the clinic was now out of the question and Mary began desperately looking for some make?shift birthing room. "How could this have ever happened ... Oh, God, it hurts so bad." She stumbled down a dark alley between the old furniture store, closed now for five years, and Sam's Electrical Outlet. Water dripped slowly from the rusty gutters. She pulled herself up against the metal dumpster and as the spasms racked her thin body, she dug her dirty fingernails into the grimy concrete. The time was soon, so soon.
The crowd chuckled as child?shepherds stared wide?eyed at the singing angels. Three bearded men, clothed in the most magnificent of costumes, gathered their ornate gifts about them and started their long trip across the church yard toward the twinkling light suspended over the make?believe stable. A few of the on?lookers loudly booed as a gruff innkeeper refused lodging for the virgin and her husband but instead, with a sweep of his arm, directed them to the now smelly stable. The farm animals rustled nervously as the choir closed the traveler's journeys with rapturous song ... and the crowd smiled.
The time had come and Mary gasped, in agony. Spittle dripped from her cracked lips and blood ran from her torn fingers. With no help and no guidance, her ignorance stoked her fear which grew and grew, and like a monstrous wave, drowned her in unimaginable horror. Nature was taking its brutal course. She screamed.
The actors had now all reached the stable. They gathered around a rough?hewn manger, a portrait of radiant serenity. The lights slowly faded black and the crowd broke into applause ?? truly thunderous applause. Soon the church?yard was again empty and the actors and spectators were making their way to the comfort of warm, brightly decorated homes.
Inside the dank, fetid alley, inside the wilderness of an urban maze, a small body was pressed against the young girls breast. It twitched and twisted a few times, shuddered, then lay still. Mary's choking cries for help went ignored and unanswered as her son slowly grew cold.
The virgin's child, who was now a King, closed his eyes and silently ... wept for them all.
Merry Christmas,
Nail-Bender in NC
Date: 20 Dec 2000
Time: 04:50:29
I was taken by the anthem our choir will be singing on Christmas Eve, and hope to tie it in with my sermon. Though others might find it helpful; it's composed by Mary Kay Bell, and is called "Is there Room at the Manger for Me?":
Is there room at the manger? Like a child I am yearning to see the great king who they say will be born here. Is there room at the manger for me?
Is there room for me at the manger? I have hardened my heart till today, If it's really God's Son in the manger, would he hear me if I were to pray.
Is there room for me at the manger? Is there room for someone who's poor? Is there room for the person who's lonely and lost who might knock at the stable door.
Is there room for me at the manger? Could I just kneel and look at his face? If the promise is true, could he make my life new? Is there room? Any room? Is there room at the manger for me?
To JG in WI: I found your first thoughts very helpful on this theme. Where it led me was to wondering, do our hardened hearts, our sinfulness, our poverty and lonliness all become crutches that we use to stop us from going to Bethlehem and taking our place at the manger and receiving the gift God has to offer us.
I'm thinking of also using the story "The Christmas Carol". Ebinezer Scrouge has a spiritual experience that changes him, his outlook on life and his relationships with those around him. He was blessed in that experience that was literally life changing. We too can have a life changing experience in our visit to Bethlehem; and we don't need to meet the ghosts of Christmas past, present or future! All we have to be open to is experiencing the real presence of God, trusting that everyone is welcome at the manger and the new life of the child lying there means that we too can have new life through him.
Some initial thoughts from MK/Ont
Date: 20 Dec 2000
Time: 14:01:49
One of the real challenges, perhaps impossible, is to invite the crowd, the congregation, to participate in this night of light, song, and revelation ... to draw them out of their memories into their own present longing.
I am never sure how to do this - but a sermon that simply reflects on the wonderous events of the past will not do! Perhaps we can some how invite ourselves to see things through the eyes of the shepherds - their longing, their hope; for those things are eternal, yet now we have embraced the Christ, we have held him in our arms, we have been drawn to his heart.
tom in ga
Date: 20 Dec 2000
Time: 16:24:11
I'm intrigued by the question about what keeps us from going to the manger? to Bethlehem? to the house of bread? to the one who is the bread of life? to the altar for the bread and wine, the body and blood of JEsus, who was born in a manger and died on a cross? Is it fear? The angels tell the Shepherds "Do Not be afraid" -- those words also speak to us "Do not be afraid, for I have good news of great joy". In a world where we are searching for happiness or joy in our lives, God offers us good news of great joy and yet fear or other obstacles (the rough roads, hills and mountains from the prophesy on Advent2) get in our way and because we have trouble coming to the stable, we never get to the cross and never experience to true joy of CHristmas and the true joy of life. LCA in NC
Date: 20 Dec 2000
Time: 16:33:24
Tom and Ga and SueCan,
I liked the idea of the nativity scene in the loaf of bread. I did a sermon some time ago entitled House of Bread. It dealt with events that happened in this little out of the way place. It recalls that Rachael gave birth there to Benjamine (dying in child birth), that Ruth gleaned there, and that David was chosen there to be king. All as unlikely as the Luke event. The sermon began with this personal experience. In 1994, I was traveling in Israel with my uncle's family. One afternoon, we stopped at a bakery to buy bread for the evening meal. Behind the counter in the bakery were two large ovens. I watched the baker take a tray on which there were lumps of dough to one of the ovens. I fully expected him to open the door and place the tray on a rack inside.
But when he open the oven door, there were no racks inside. He began to do a most unusual thing. He took each lump of dough and threw it against the side of the hot oven where it stuck. I was told that they would know when the bread was done when they heard it falling off the side of the oven wall.
I thought, "What a strange way to bake bread!"
We made our purchases and I stepped out the door of the bakery to look on another amazing site. I was looking out on a valley with patches of winter grass- the kind of fields in which shepherds might have kept watch over their flocks by night. And on the hill to my right stood the Church of the Nativity.
There, surrounded by the aroma of fresh baked bread, I remembered that I was in Bethlehem which in the Hebrew language means, "house of bread". Hope this is helpful jrbNrnc
Date: 21 Dec 2000
Time: 05:23:49
Tom hadn't been himself lately. He found that he was spending a lot of time thinking about the past -kind of a nostalgia kick. This seemed to be different than other Christmases to him. In fact, as he sat in church now, it happened to him again.
His mind jumped backwards - over the years. It was fifty five Christmases ago. It was Christmas Eve and he was back in the old ethnic neighborhood in Detroit. He was ten years old. His father had decided to take him to the German Service at the old, large, wood-framed church with its tall steeple. He wondered why they were going to the German service. That was the language his grandmother used with her friends when she did not want him to understand what was being said.
When he thought about it now, he realized that, for his father, German was the language of memories and of his childhood.
Tommy was excited about going to church because he liked to go places with his father. He also remembered that his father stopped at the neighborhood tavern on the way. He had two shots and a beer. Maybe this was pain medicine to get him ready to enter a place where he was ucomfortable and less than at home. Tommy sat on a barstool next to his father and had a Rock and Rye. Afterward they continued their treck. Since it was not far, they left the car at the tavern and walked through the crisp cold night. The snow was blowing and the air was cold and brisk.
When they arrived at the church, the downstairs was already full. They made their way up the narrow wooden steps into the balcony. They sat just behind the organ console. The old floor creaked and groaned as other people filled the upstairs.
Mr. Kiefer, a teacher in the Lutheran school, was sitting at the bench and was playing the organ. Tom remembered looking down and seeing a huge tree to the side of the chancel. It had blue lights and was covered with silver tinsel. The tree reached nearly to the top of the soaring church ceiling.
For a moment he remembered where he was now. These new churches! No balcony - low ceilings - no room for your thoughts to travel upwards. It almost doesn't look like a church. Back at St. Stephen's your soul had room to soar.
His mind had little difficulty returning to the balcony. His father whispered that very soon the children would be coming in. As he waited, he looked around and saw Mr. Baetz. He was the owner of the neighborhood shoe store and lived across the street from Tom. He noticed that the skin on the back or Mr. Baetz's neck was smooth - a lot like the organist's. Mr. La Grow, another neighbor, was sitting next to him. The skin on the back of his neck was rough and wrinkled - almost like leather. That must be the difference between working in a factory and working at s shoe store or being a schoolteacher. Tom's father's neck had rough skin. He wondered if their lives were like their necks.
Then it happened! The people seemed to get very quiet. Some of the folks downstairs were turning toward the front doors. The organ got louder - and here they were! It seemed like a hundred of them. Children of all shapes and sizes were coming down the center aisle. The were singing: "Ihr kinderlein kommet"..."Come hither O Children."
Tommy looked over to his father. He caught a whiff of the 'B' grade whiskey and he saw some moisture welling up in his father's eyes. He wondered what his father was remembering or thinking.
Tommy is telling us something about Christmas. I wondered how theological or how religious his message is. And yet - Christmas -- our Christmas ten years ago or, fifty five years ago or, almost 2000 years ago is always rooted in other times and other places.
By the nature of it, it seems, Christmas triggers memory.
To an oppressed people in the days of Caesar Augustus it was a memory- A memory of when Bethlehem was glorious- was indeed the City of David.
It was a memory of times of freedom and days of glory.
Shepherds, who may have smelled of bad whiskey and with moisture in their eyes, had their own memories when they received a message on angels' wings. They remembered and they were frightened.
"To you this day is born in the City of David, a Savior who id Christ The Lord."
Unbelievable that Christ could come there - in the song of the children to the factory workers in the balcony and to the young boy who didn't understand the language and to other Tommys showing up tonght in a strange church.
What we seem to know about human nature and about the ways of God - is that He comes to us almost especially when we don't quite know what's happening or when we have some inner pain (medicated or unmedicated) and when our eyes are about to leak.
For whatever reason - this Christmas 2000 we are here and God is here. -the setting may be different than our older memories. -The building may be different than our memories of youth and innocence.
But here we are at the place of the Child - and, we somehow know that it is a place of love.
And somehow we know that this Love is for us.
Ron in Kings Mill, Ohio
Date: 21 Dec 2000
Time: 08:18:25
Thank you for the thought that it was on the innkeeper, in his apparent security, that didn't respond - this may help with something I was thinking of doing. Adrian in UK
Date: 21 Dec 2000
Time: 18:32:42
Here's something that I wrote for my monthly newsletter. Another way of looking at the shepherds.
To understand how the folks of Jesus' day perceived the Shepherds I've given them names like Jimmy the Sneak or Joey Two Tunics. They were pretty much viewed as hoodlums, thieves, con-men. The Pharisees made it against Israel’s religious law to buy wool, meat, or milk from a shepherd; and the nature of the profession made it very hard for them to participate in the religious ceremonies of the day. Even the rabbis commenting on the 23rd Psalm said, “No position in the world is as despised as that of the shepherd.” (Midrash on Ps. 23) As a matter of fact, shepherds weren’t even permitted to testify in court.
I can see them out there "living in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night." My guess is that they were out there because if there was no room for a pregnant woman and her husband, there certainly wasn't any room for a shepherd! And with all of the other shepherds around, keeping a 24-7 on the livestock wasn't a bad idea. I visualize the Shepherds playing poker with each other, pulling cards from their sleeves and the wool over each other's eyes, smoking stogies and telling dirty jokes. And when the Angel of the Lord appears to them I can't help thinking that they thought it was Judgement Day, that the gig was over. No wonder they were terrified and fell on their faces. And I love the next word in the story…"But." "BUT" the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid."
I keep coming back to the Shepherds because they seem such unlikely ones to be given such a treat, an angel visitation and to see with their own eyes, the Savior, the Messiah. But what draws me to the Shepherds is their response. The Wisemen show up, put their dollar in the plate and head back home. The Shepherds, while not permitted to testify in court, leave the scene and begin telling everyone the extraordinary events that they had witnessed. And I find it also marvelous that this time, the people believed the message of the Shepherds and were amazed. I guess God knows that the best candidates are the most unlikely, that those down the deepest often end up going the widest when blessed with Grace. I think God also knows that when it comes to good news, even the hungriest of us will take a cheeseburger offered by a bum. And so around this time of year I look for the Shepherds once again and wonder where I'm going to find them. Maybe they'll be ringing a bell by a kettle, maybe they'll be sitting beside me at the Christmas Eve service. Maybe they'll be cutting in line at Wal-Mart. But I keep looking for them. They're still out there you know, telling the amazing story, sometimes they're even behind the pulpit!
Joyfully in Christ,
John near Pitts.
Date: 22 Dec 2000
Time: 11:32:08
MK/in Ont,
Thanks for the inspiration- Is there Room? Thanks as well for enclosing the lyrics and writer's name. I will use them as an illustration in my sermon. "There is room at the manger for you" will be my theme.
I will also hand out notecards prior to the service for persons to write their names. Following the sermon as folks come up for Holy Communion, I will invite them to put their personalized notecards around the manger/creche in our sanctuary. I am thinking about having pictures of the famous and not so famous already there (maybe placed there as part of the children's time) There is room for all of us in God's love. Thanks everyone for inspiring me throughout the year.
Peace, JJ in Charleston, SC
Date: 22 Dec 2000
Time: 15:15:43
... because there was no place for them in the inn.
For some reason, we preachers have been giving the inn owner bad press, seeing him as an insensitiive baffon, who could care less about the pregnant couple. The reason for our difficulty is that we have interpreted "inn" in terms of our own culture.
The place of Jesus' birth was a cave. Caves around Bethlehem were used as homes for families who would construct a lean-to at the entrance of the cave. The family livestock was housed in the inside of the cave. The word for "inn" is "katalyma" and means a room for guests or for eating. Because this outer room attached to the cave was already fully occupied or at least not very private, Joseph brought Mary inside of the cave where the livestock ordinarily rested. This suggests a wonderful spirit, a hospitabile soul who not only openned his doors to this couple but found them a place in the midst of the crowd to give birth.
Instead of being a negative sign, it is a positive sign of the reception of Christ into our lives.
tom in ga
Date: 22 Dec 2000
Time: 22:52:33
I have been drawn to the shepherds "living in the fields" I've always thought of them as the minimum wage earners on the night shift. But they lived out side. Jesus was born "outside" of the place for family hospitality. As a woman I can't help but think about how this birth story lacks people. There is no midwife, no aunt or mother. joseph had to cut the embilacal cord and with no running water you get teh picture. Christ born outside, witnessed by outsiders, died outside, to welcome us into a place that has been prepared. He reverses hospitality. There was no one there to give the new paretnt a drink, but she cradled the living bread, in a feeding trough. This is why God choses to be born outside. The sermon and insight in katuluma was interesting. PJinDE
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 02:37:38
Dear friends, One letter that came this week touched my heart in way others hadn’t. It was from seminary friend who lives in Hawaii. I can still see Colleen’s round smiling face & bright eyes: she was a warm & thoughtful person—someone who would make a great pastor. And she did make a great pastor, but she left ministry a few years ago after her sister died and left Colleen with her 3 orphaned children. Colleen, now a single mom, left ministry to do something less demanding of her time: she teaches first grade and goes home to the trials of teenagers. She writes:
“Getting children to read is my greatest pleasure…. Parenting continues painfully. Single parenthood is worst.Carrie graduated from high school and moved to San Diego to find herself. Ryan is 6’2” and skinny. To my sorrow he values only skateboarding and tagging (illegal graffiti). He does value mother, but thinks I’m outdated and redundantly naggy. Laurie at 13 is desperately trying to define herself as a woman…much to my frustration. I may end up toothless having ground my teeth to the roots in angst.
I’m in no mood for Xmas, but it comes. In the faces of my new students shine expectant joy that is contagious. I find myself singing carols, wrapping small gifts, baking cookies, and, in spite of myself,look forward with hope & love & faith to Christ’s reign in the new year of 2001.”
Colleen's letter will be the heart of my Christmas message: "I’m in no mood for Xmas, but it comes." Sharon in Bethlehem
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 04:07:12
This year the big theme is "the Grinch" and his amazing transformation because a little girl belived that his hurts were'nt big enough to keep him from CHRISTmas. Has anybody else been thinking about this?
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 05:11:43
I haven't contributed in quite a while because my new job as an Army chaplain in Korea only calls for me to preach occasionally. I want to thank all those who regularly contribute, because some weeks I read it just for inspiration.
This Christmas Eve (regular Sunday service) I was going to compare the response of Joseph in Matthew with the response of Mary in Luke with the help of "Mary Did You Know" and focus on her yes in the midst of pondering (perhaps like the prayer in Mark - I believe, please help my unbelief) and the "OK" of the dreamer Joseph. Both got the job done, God asked unlikely people, but knew when he asked that they could do the job; and then set to wondering what tasks God will ask each of us in the year ahead, perhaps ones we have no idea how we will accomplish, but let us ponder what is possible if we say yes to what God already knows we can do, "for with God all things are possible" - even two unlikely people babysitting, diapering, and feeding the Son of God.
I would appreciate any further thoughts. Thanks and God Bless
Just one more desparate preacher in a land far away
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 05:16:59
One additional thing, I was also going to use "Joseph's Song" by Michael Card to show Joseph's side. I recommend it if you haven't heard it. It is on his "The Final Word" CD [If you like that you will love the other two CDs in the trilogy of the life,death, and resurrection of Christ. Very useful for youth groups. The other two CDs are called "Scandalon" and "Known by the Scars". Again, God Bless you and yours. Pray for our soldiers, who like Mary and Joseph are far from home and loved ones at Christmas.
That desparate preacher in the far east
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 06:21:19
The thoughts on Shepherds and Innkeepers and Bethlehem have been very helpful. Thanks for all the great insights.
I usually dress up and do a character monologue for Christmas Eve. The material here is very helpful for developing the character of the shepherd or innkeeper. But infortunately I am moving on to the OT reading this year and becoming Isaiah the prophet. I thought I would raise this question here, though, because there are obvious links between the readings, as Isaiah is clearly interpreted in our tradition as Messianic, and it refers to the birth of a child who will have transforming effects on the world. Most notably, increasing joy, relieving the burdens of life, freeing us from our oppression, etc.
This is not just a remarkable birth. It is a mysterious baby. Consider the star, the Angels, the wondering shepherds, all as signs of someone pretty incredible making the scene. No wonder Mary pondered all these things in her heart.
But here I am, the prophet Isaiah (at least for 15 minutes during my sermon) pondering all these things that happened as a fulfillment of my words, even though I never intended them to be fulfilled in this way. I had NO IDEA what God was going to do. I thought it was good enough that we were going to get a new government in the 8th Century BC. Ahaz had to go! I am amazed to hear these 21st century AD Carols about a baby born in bethlehem, a Messiah who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Yet, here it is.
I am pondering all these things in my heart, and wondering where it will end. This child grew up, embodied God's love, gave himself for all, and still lives with us, Immanuel. And even that is not the end because we are talking about God here. The power of this story is that it never ends. God continues to work in us and even to use our work long after we are gone. (I believe this is true of all the characters in this story, and also of you and I.) Isaiah spoke, and people are still listening because God is still getting the word out. (It doesn't hurt that Handel wrote some catchy music to go with the prophet's words.)
We are celebrating, with Mary and Joseph and all God's people everywhere, "a child has been born for us." "And you will find the child lying in a manger."
Sorry if I am too focused on Isaiah here in the "Gospel Section" of DPS, but I trust you will appreciate the overlap (and the pickings are slim in the Isaiah 9 discussion so far.)
Blessings to all,
DidgeriDave of Saskatoon
Date: 23 Dec 2000
Time: 07:35:29
Fr. Joseph Donders, a Roman Catholic Priest, wrote a trilogy of books of free-style poems for every Sunday and holy day of cycles A, B, and C. I am planning to use one of his Christmas poems centering on "A Donkey That Returned" , pp. 27-31 of his book <The Jesus Community: Reflections on the Gospels for the B-cycle.> I will use a "/" for when a new line begins. I hope this will be of help to some one. He begins: "Happy Christmas./It is midnight;/it could not be earlier/in the morning/of this new day./The child is born,/washed,/swaddled in some cloths,/and put in a manger./That manger/ is something special;/it is mentioned/three times/in the report from Luke./They laid him/in a 'manger'/because there was no room/for them/in the inn./ The angels/sang to the shepherds:/look for a 'manger'./It was in a 'manger'/that they found/him./In every Christmas crib/you find next to Jesus/Mary, of course,/and Joseph too./But if the crib/is complete/there are also/next to him in 'their manger,' an ox and/an ass./They are not there/just for decorative purposes;/they are not there/just for sentimental reasons;/they are not there/because of one or another/midieval imagination only./They are there/because of a text/in an old prophetic book,/the one about Isaiah,/who speaking in the name of God/said to his people:/'The ox knows its owner,/and the ass its master's manger,/but you,/O people of mine,/you don't know your Lord/and God'(Isa. 1:3)./An ox know/where it gets/its sustenance;/an ass knows where it gets/its food;/but you,/O humanity,/you forgot./That is how/that manger is a/ sign./ That is why/that manger was the place/those shepherds,/representing humanity,/had to go to,/like a donkey/that went astray/and came/home./ They laid him/in a manger/because there was no place/for him/in the inn./We think that he was laid/in that crib/because they refused/him/in the inn./ The truth/mighty be exactly/the opposite./It was our Lord and God/who refused to stay/in an inn./ He was fed up/with living in hotels and motels,/in inns, pubs, and lodging-houses/in a world/ that is really/God's./Read the prophet Jeremiah/and you will understand./Jeremiah,/in the name of God,/complained/that whenever God/visited this world,/people did not know about God/any more./they did not recognize Yahweh,/they closed their doors to God,/they said:/We don'lt know who you are,/get out./And God felt like/a stranger in this world/and stopped knocking at the doors/of those people/and decided to stay/like a foreigner/in an inn (Jer. 14:8-9)./When God returned to this world/in Jesus/so very long ago,/he was born in/a manger./And that donkey--/called humankind--/returned to him/that very night./ It was in that crib/surrounded by Mary, Joseph,/and the shepherds,/that he found a home/again/with us./An inn was not necessary/any more./The inn was/no place/for him./In the circle/around that crib/a first,/new human homestead/had been formed/in the light/of angels/and stars./The new pattern/had been/set./The new community/was born." --[end]-- I felt this was a good addition to those of you who centered on shepherds, angels, innkeepers, etc. Merry Christ+Mass! Paul in central Texas. :-)))
Date: 24 Dec 2000
Time: 00:26:16
Each year, the small faith community who holds me accountable to who I claim to be and a few others join together on a night the week or two before Christmas. We come together in a barn a few miles from where I live. In our small community is a pediatrician who once practiced medicine embracing the poorest of the kids in our community, this community that is, as many of you well know, enmeshed in poverty. She doesn't practice anymore … she has MS. There is a psychologist who is absolutely the most spiritual man I have ever known. He is wise far beyond his years and he is no longer a young man. He has progressive heart disease and will never get stronger. In our community is a woman who only a short while ago was being battered, was homeless for several months, and suffered from a long term debilitating disease.
In our community is my friend who lost her daughter to suicide just a few months ago. There is a UM pastor whose physician husband became a drug addict and they were divorced. This Christmas, her children will not be with her. There is a woman who has Hodgkin's Disease and has just finished another round of chemo-therapy. And there were others gathered there with us, who were just as battered … just as hurt.
Last Saturday night, we gathered in a barn to celebrate the birth of a child. We gathered in a barn to offer an alternative to the typical services and celebrations one often engages during this time of year. We gathered in a barn, our broken community, and we shared song, we shared in story, we shared in the Eucharist, we shared in this homily which I now offer up to you:
And so, we find our selves in this place of animals, once again coming in the darkness of night. Once again coming in the cold and the damp. Once again coming not in the realm of gaiety, but in silence and reflection … in the stillness of our souls and the stillness of the moment.
As we come here in the shadows, I think about another stable in another time and I wonder, you know. I wonder what it might have been to be on that road traveling to Bethlehem, walking, one weary footstep after the other. Watching as the sun slowly set, bringing with it, darkness and a chill in the air. Trudging up that long dirt road, up the steep incline to the plateau on which Bethlehem sat.
And I wonder what it must have been like as they searched the town seeking for some place where they might lay their heads. The young mother, a mere child really, great with new life. A father, who was not the father, and who most certainly still wondered about the terrifying mystery of it all. I wonder about the anxiety they most certainly endured, the fear, and the concern for the unborn miracle they bore.
I wonder, you know. I wonder about a God who comes into the world in such a way. A God who comes not as a mighty ruler, not even as a benevolent dictator, but instead is born into a feed trough. I wonder about a God who comes not to bring prosperity or wealth, but instead, is born to parents who are so poor that they cannot even afford the simplest of offerings for the temple. I wonder about a God who comes not to fashion the world into that which would suggest a heaven on earth, but who instead seems quite willing to somehow leave it up to us - the goodness or the badness of it all, the beauty or the ugliness.
I wonder, you know … and I bet there are times, maybe in the darkness of night when all is still and all you can hear is the breathing of the one lying next to you or the deep silence of being alone, you wonder too.
Yet, in the stillness of the stable; in the beauty of hands touching children who might have been rejected; in the miracle of love in the presence of hatred; in the wonder of acceptance in the framework of rejection; in the mystery of the cry of a baby in the midst of the sounds of animals - God speaks.
Softly, in whispers. In a voice that is only as demanding as the whimper of a hungry child. In a voice that is only as demanding as the cry of a lonely widow. In a voice that is only as demanding as the anguished pleadings of a father who no longer has a job. In a voice only as demanding as our deepest pains, our greatest sorrows, and our darkest fears. In the mystery, God speaks. And in the stillness of the stable, God offers us the possibility to listen, to respond, to feel. To find Christ that is born into our existence each and every day, born out of the night and into the new day of God's beginnings.
For God is born, not because we need a King, or wealth, or a dictatorial heaven on earth. Indeed, these things are a barrier to the God of the stable. But God is born so that we might, in all our brokenness, know one another. God is born, so that we might know love. God is born, so that together, we might all find the light, the Word … life.
For the darkness cannot overcome it. This is hope...this is God.
Shalom my friends and have a Merry Christmas,
Nail-Bender in NC
Date: 24 Dec 2000
Time: 00:28:44
Sorry, I offered up a bit of introduction on the last post but for some reason I see I did not include it.
I offered this reflection up for Lisa about a week ago. Actually, it was written for the passage. I hope you might it to be meaningful.
Shalom,
Nail-Bender in NC
Date: 24 Dec 2000
Time: 03:04:08
Thanks Nail Bender,
I have been living life in the "Break down lane" all through the Advent season, waiting for heart procedures to be administered and for my kidneys to restart. As a preacher the waiting has been hard! I will return to the pulpit tomorrow Dec 24th having missed all of the Sundays of Advent. I am thinking of how Mary and joseph did not have a birth as they propably had planned. Broken people by forces not under their control. No Martha Stewart Christmas here! The real magic is that Christmas comes (Christ comes) whether we are ready or not, if all the shopping does not get done, if we fail to mail those cards, IT HAPPENS ANYWAY! And best of all; GOD IS PRESENT WITH PEACE AND JOY. I celebrate this day with a renewed sense of why this is such a great event. GOD IS WITH US, ALLELUIA A W-G rocky coast Me.
Date: 24 Dec 2000
Time: 05:43:57
W-G, my friend,
My prayers and the prayers of our community will be with you. Thank you for your uplifting praise.
Shalom my friend, Nail-Bender in NC
Date: 24 Dec 2000
Time: 18:19:02
JJ in Charleston:
I'm glad that the reflection "Is there room at the manger for me" was helpful.
I really liked your addition of providing worshippers with paper to write their names on and place them at the manger. I'll have to keep that in mind for another year.
MK/Ont