Christmas

(Proper 1)

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Luke 2:1-20 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Treasures for the Heart
   
    I am so grateful that Luke preserved the story of Jesus' birth for us, a story not included in the other gospels. We are told that these events he recorded gave Mary treasures to store up in her heart. I imagine that they gave her memories that remained with her for the rest of her life.  That is the case for many modern day Christians too.

    For me, Luke's recounting of Jesus' birth is a story that carries with it swirls of memories of Christmases past -- pictures of homes decorated for the holidays, Christmas trees, gifts given in love, holiday meals, the churches I have attended, faces of family and friends -- some still with me and some long gone, memories of a Christmas Eve spent in modern Bethlehem, and more.  There are also pictures in my mind's eye, some probably more romantic than the gritty reality of life in first-century Palestine warrants, of this humble couple making its way to the small village of Bethlehem, of the birth in a stable, and of clouds of angels singing to amazed shepherds.

    Our prayer for each of you this Christmas is that the Good News of these events will again become fresh for you and that you will not loose the wonder of the story in the familiarity of the words. It is a story that some my find hard to believe in our cynical times, but the incredible is completely in keeping with God's ways. God almost always seems to be about doing the unexpected.

    How could the story of God breaking though into history to reveal the breadth and depth of God's love for us produce anything but an unusual and incredible story?  May one of God's gifts to you this holy season be that this ancient, timeless story will warm your heart with the knowledge that you too are God's beloved child.  A child so loved that, in the words of John 3:16, God gave God's only Son, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

    Know this Christmas that "whosoever" includes you too!

revclay

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Luke 2:1-20
   
    In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph 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. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

    While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And 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. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

    "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors!"

    When 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." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 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. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.