The Christmas story, with its vivid cast of characters, is a story so very familiar to us. Because of this we sometimes can miss sight of the deeper meaning of the reality of the “Word made flesh,” our God who came to dwell among us. Because of this I invite you to look briefly at some of the key details of this ancient story.
We will begin first with the village of Bethlehem. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was 80 miles. Accommodations for travelers was quite primitive. Unlike our modern motels, travelers to ancient Palestinian villages simply found a series of stalls opening off of a common courtyard. The travellers would bring their own food. The only thing the innkeeper provided was fodder for the animals and fire with which to cook
Because of the census declared by Caesar Augustus, the little village of Bethlehem was quite crowded. So the Christ child was born in the place where they kept the animals. The word “manger” simply means a place where animals feed, and therefore it can be either a stable or feeding trough which is meant. It is significant that He, who would one day feed us with his body and blood, would be born in a place where the animals were fed.
That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to later happen to Jesus. He came to this earth to dwell in the hearts of the people who had rejected him since the time of Adam and Eve. At the end of his earthly life, rejected by the crowds, and abandoned by his closest friends, the only place where there was room for him was on a cross. This cross though is the instrument that has opened the hearts of people through the centuries as they have experienced the mercy of God’s forgiveness, and his abiding presence in their lives. Our Christmas celebration is a reminder to us that we too, must open our hearts and allow Christ to be born in us.
The fact that the God who had become human appeared first to shepherds is also significant. Shepherds were despised by the orthodox good people of the day. They were unable to keep the specific details of the ceremonial laws like hand washing. Their flocks were simply too demanding of their attention and so they could not separate themselves from their flocks in order to perform the necessary prescriptions of the law. But it was to just such simple men that God’s message first came.
But these were not just any shepherds. These were Bethlehem shepherds. Bethlehem, being only 9 miles from Jerusalem, was the primary place that the unblemished firstborn male lambs were purchased for the temple sacrifices. And so these shepherds were the very ones who cared for the most precious of lambs. It seems appropriate then, that they would be the first to see the most precious Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
We, too, have been given the gift of that sacrificial Lamb of God in our celebration of the Eucharist. By eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ we are the first to see God and so we have been entrusted with the task of caring for those whom God considers precious. This would be the children, the poor, the vulnerable, those who have no one else to care for them. Like the shepherds of Bethlehem we Christians are the first ones to whom God continues to appear in the world today, and so we are the first to be the messengers of this good news for others. We need to be careful that the other demands of life not get in the way of our tending to the presence of Christ among us.
Finally, it was the Jewish custom that local musicians would congregate at the house of a newborn baby boy, to greet him with simple music. Since this local custom could not be carried out in that stable, it is significant that the choirs of angels sang these songs of welcome that night. Each time we gather for the Eucharist we join our voices with those of the angels as we sing “Glory to God in the Highest,” and “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.” Joining our voices with the angels in this place, we are to also bring that song of joy into the world by our own words and actions.
Finally, one would expect that when a mighty king is born, he would be born in a palace or mansion. These palaces and mansion oftentimes became fortresses that separated the king from his people. It is a known fact that more than one king, and even several of our popes, would put on the clothing of the common man and leave the security of their palaces so that they could walk among the people. They would do this so that they would know more really how the people they were leading actually lived. This helped them to be better leaders to their people. By God becoming human, God is doing the same thing. We have a God who knows how we live because he too lived with us in the humblest of ways.
And so today, with all the choirs of angels, we give God thanks for coming to dwell among us. We give God thanks for allowing Christ to continue to come to us in this place where we are fed, at the table of the Eucharist with his own Body and Blood, soul and divinity. We give God thanks for appearing to us, in our own lowliness, and entrusting us with the task of caring for Christ’s presence in our world. Finally, we ask for the grace that God will open our hearts, so that we will each and every day have a place for Christ to be born in our hearts
