to the least, lowly & last
christmas dawns
There were Mary and Joseph, far from home and without any
familiar faces to offer even a little comfort; when the time arrived.
Mary, with only her fiancé Joseph for support, gives
birth to their firstborn; whom they've decided to name Jesus, which means
"God saves."
Now the reason these two find themselves away from home
and without the company of friends or family during such a moment is that the
emperor, whom they've never met and never will, has decided that the world
should be accounted for.
Emperor Augustus has decreed that his empire would mark
everyone so he can decide who is worth counting; and, incidentally, so he can
decide who has enough worth to take a little more from...
At the whim of some emperor, and for no other reason than
to increase that emperor's wealth, Mary and Joseph must leave everything
at a precarious moment to see if they count...
And as it always goes, when it rains it pours...
Made to go to and fro by some emperor, and entering a
city full of others traveling for the census, Mary and Joseph can find no place
to rest for the night, and so they must make the most out of a barn...
Whatever comfort they may have been able to create in
that manger is about to go by the way-side, though, when Mary tells Joseph
"it's time."
Away from home and with no kin for support and no one to
help, Mary gives birth.
But it isn't to just any child that she gives birth...
Now, a little before that moment, there were shepherds in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night...
These field-workers, only able to get the night shift,
and not even worth the attention of the emperor, though, see something
incredible.
These shepherds the skies are rent asunder, as the heavenly
army breaks upon the night sky...
This army isn't brandishing swords, though. In fact, they
aren't even crying battle hymns.
Instead this heavenly army is singing, they're declaring
peace and goodwill to all!
Unlike the emperor, who demands that his subject come
to him, just so he can see who is worth counting; God has been doing
something completely different on this holy night...
Into those fields that are only suitable for those lowly
shepherds and the decidedly unintelligent animals they must watch after, God
sends the heavenly host.
At that moment, during an hour no one would choose
to work, God sends the angelic choir.
To the very people the empire has assumed aren't worth
the trouble to get out of the fields to count, God sends the heavenly court.
To those shepherds everyone has overlooked God sends a
royal edict.
This edict, though, is not that these people must go and
be accounted for that God sends the multitude of heaven, either...
No.
Instead, God sends the royal proclamation out to
the fields, to the ones the empire will never bother with to declare
that a savior has been born for them.
There,
then
and to those very people everyone hasn't bothered to
notice, God chooses to send the heavenly choir proclaiming good news to all;
because born, first and foremost, to these lowly shepherds is the Messiah.
So it is, from a couple that the empire doesn't even care
whether young Mary was pregnant or not to order her hither and yon at the
emperor's whim,
and to some field-workers the empire doesn't even care to
be troubled with,
the Messiah comes.
It is to the last expected;
the least, the lowly and the lost first and foremost, that the Messiah comes to save.
That night was a night unlike any other,
a night where God tore apart the heavens to come to
earth,
a night when God tore apart the list of who counts and
who doesn't, to bring good news of great joy to all the people,
and that includes you.
On that night God came to you and I.
It is to the people stuck on the graveyard shift,
to you who were dragged here by mom or grandma,
to the people who have to work outside of the city,
to you who are wondering what to make of this
virgin giving birth,
to the people who have nowhere but a measly barn to give
birth,
to you who worry whether Christmas will be merry
after all,
to the people who will never be movers and shakers but
are instead moved and shaken,
to you who come here bringing all your beloved
memories with you, that God comes.
That is why we are here this evening,
because that song the angels sung that hallowed night
still echos throughout the universe,
and we have heard that hymn,
we have heard God's messengers coming to all of us
announcing good news of great joy,
the refrain that God comes to dwell among us, to save us.
It is to the least,
to the last,
to the lowly,
in other words, to everyone,
and that includes you, that God comes.
God comes to us all on this holy night.
As we gather here to light candles and sing 'silent
night,' the angels interrupt the silence yet again, declaring good news of
great joy to all,
that God has been born among us,
for us,
for everyone.
Amen
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