Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
Said the shepard boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know
In your palace wall mighty king
Do you know what I know
A child, a child
Shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Do you know what I know
In your palace wall mighty king
Do you know what I know
A child, a child
Shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know... It has been a minute since my last post, but my goodness it is the holiday season, and for us Christians, it's Christmas! You know that time of year that we have set aside to celebrate the birth of little baby Jesus! And how do we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus? We go out and blow our rent, mortgage, car and/other utilities payment to buy a Wii, Xbox's, and games that cost over $50.00 a pop - all the while celebrating the birth of baby Jesus! And yes, I, even I am trying to get a call into to Santa for an IPad. I mean seriously, if I had that IPad I could have posted much sooner than now and you would have already gotten my take on this particular time of the year and my feelings about the birth of little baby Jesus. You would have already learned that I believe we are not telling the real story of Jesus' birth and the significance of it to people who are not among the "Who's Who," or those who have been cut off, locked out and ostracized from family, church and community.
Instead of telling the story of the birth of Jesus in the usual glorious way, I'll start by talking about where he was born - in a stable behind the home of a relative of either Mary or Joseph. I would have already told you that within this stable, we would have found animals of course and all the accouterments of high-end living for animals! The stable was probably damp and cold with very little to no sanitary place for the birth of anything, especially our Lord and Saviour for crying out loud! No doubt, there was hay, grass or some other manner of food only fit for animals. Food that was placed inside a little wooden trough, or in this case, also known as a manger - the same kind of manger that little baby Jesus was born in! Yes, baby Jesus was born in a feeding trough for animals. Have you heard that preached on Sunday morning? I doubt it. And those swaddling clothes - was more like a blanket or pieces of a blanket or other hand-me-down pieces of cloth Mary and Joseph may have managed to find lying around to wrap baby Jesus up in the ancient practice of swaddling. And if you're now wondering what "swaddling" is, it is an old technique or practice used to restrict the movement of a newly born baby's limbs. It protects the baby from his/her own limbs and keeps them warm. It also acts to keep the baby all snuggle bunny as if still in the womb until the baby is ready to spread their wings. Trust and believe, if you have had a baby or know someone who has, I promise, you have seen a baby wrapped in the art of "swaddling."
Instead of telling the story of the birth of Jesus in the usual glorious way, I'll start by talking about where he was born - in a stable behind the home of a relative of either Mary or Joseph. I would have already told you that within this stable, we would have found animals of course and all the accouterments of high-end living for animals! The stable was probably damp and cold with very little to no sanitary place for the birth of anything, especially our Lord and Saviour for crying out loud! No doubt, there was hay, grass or some other manner of food only fit for animals. Food that was placed inside a little wooden trough, or in this case, also known as a manger - the same kind of manger that little baby Jesus was born in! Yes, baby Jesus was born in a feeding trough for animals. Have you heard that preached on Sunday morning? I doubt it. And those swaddling clothes - was more like a blanket or pieces of a blanket or other hand-me-down pieces of cloth Mary and Joseph may have managed to find lying around to wrap baby Jesus up in the ancient practice of swaddling. And if you're now wondering what "swaddling" is, it is an old technique or practice used to restrict the movement of a newly born baby's limbs. It protects the baby from his/her own limbs and keeps them warm. It also acts to keep the baby all snuggle bunny as if still in the womb until the baby is ready to spread their wings. Trust and believe, if you have had a baby or know someone who has, I promise, you have seen a baby wrapped in the art of "swaddling."
Okay, enough of that. Now where was I? Oh yeah, if I had that IPad, I could have already told you the particular significance of Luke's account of the birth of little baby Jesus. Luke tells us shepherds were at the scene of his birth. They were "living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night" (v. 8b). Why is this important? Because on the one hand, King David, Jesus' ancestor - that reckless, dancing, adulterer and murderer - was also a lowly and comely shepherd before he became king. Furthermore, by pointing out that the shepherds were 'living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock,' the writer of Luke is signifying that these particular shepherds were probably outcasts in the community because they were not home protecting their wives and family. So now we have a miracle child - a bastard child borne of a woman that the Catholic church would have us to believe was a virgin before the pregnancy and yes, even after little baby Jesus was born. As the sacred text records, aside from the fact of the record, this child was also "registered" right along with the regular ole common folk, sinners like you and me; he was born in abject poverty with nothing but a few poor shepherds, some sheep and various other animals to bear witness of his birth, and yet this is the child who would be the Christ or Messiah. I mean really... Can you get anymore humbling than that? Think about it... As we have also read, this baby Jesus was also said to be Emmanuel, that is, "God with us." So what we really have here is God humbling himself to the extent that S/HE chose to come to us as lowly and abased as one could. It is no wonder that Luke emphasized the celebration of such a birth with "a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God" (v. 13b). It gives a whole new meaning to the words, "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me" (Luke 7:23).
So, I get it. I really do get it! If this is how the birth of Jesus was preached on Sunday morning from the pulpits around this country and others, I wonder if it would still be so difficult for some "good Christians" to view the potential of every other homeless, bastard child borne of a woman who doesn't know who the father is as a potential Messiah? I wonder if it would cause some "good Christians" to have more care and concern for and about the unborn, than the born? Would it change the minds of some of these "good Christians" who fight for and even kill to protect the unborn, but won't bat an eyelash over the death of hundreds, even thousands of newly born babies who have little to no food to eat, access to health-care, adequate clothing and shelter? How quickly would we have sent away so many of our mother's babies to fight and die in a fabricated war? Would some "good Christians" have acted differently in the lives of others who have fallen victim to tribal genocide, senseless violence in our city streets, curable diseases or by their own hands? I believe if this was the way Jesus' birth was told, there would be more care, compassion and presence in the birth of some of our most vulnerable members of society. For each of them lost to us, so too has their brightness, their potential "goodness and light."
T'is the season - to show up in the lives of others - to be present and accounted for - to speak truth to power and to reflect upon what this season is really about - "Glory to God in the highest... and peace and goodwill to all on earth" (v. 14). Oh and an IPad for me! Naw I'm jes kiddn'... No seriously ;-) Okay, I'm done but please...
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
Pray for peace people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
(Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker)
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!
Yes, Pastor, I hear what you hear. I don't personally celebrate the season for obvious reasons but I do celebrate the birth of Jesus every day, so much so that my favorite celebrations are birthdays. After your sermon Sunday and this blog, my humblest thoughts of Jesus will include your graphic description of the "soooo sacred" manger (a trough from which livestock eat) scene. Loving the cabbage patch version of the truth. Thank you and Tis the season, Pastor Henry.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you so eloquently acknowledge the birth of christ. When you start to analysis the story and put it in its context you can see how christians marvel over the birth of christ but in their daily living and celebration of Christ birth they never think in the prospective you have pointed out. If you think about it the same treatment Christ recieve it continues today. A bastard child is not recieved into society, but since he was born "our saviour" he has been place on a pedestal uh well hhmmm.. any way this is a time of giving but everyday should be a time of giving. So I plan to give love not only now but everyday. Thanks for the post Rev Henry.
ReplyDeleteTerri:
ReplyDeleteYou're comments are always so thoughtful and I appreciate your perspective and loyalty.
Anonymous:
Well said... And as is the case with most of what we know of Jesus, it is the cleaned up, pristine version that we focus on and not the ugly and even nasty truth that Terri pointed out about the manger/trough... How glorious is that?