CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE

 

 

TEXT:  LUKE 2:4-7

 

 

 "An Intimate Moment with Mary and Joseph" 

by Ken Gire

 

Luke 2:4 (NIV) So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,

7 and she gave birth to her first-born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 

  For the census, Joseph and Mary have to travel 85 miles from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem.

 Joseph walks, while Mary, nine months pregnant, rides sidesaddle on a donkey, feeling every jolt, every rut, every rock in the road.

 

 By the time that they arrive, the small town of Bethlehem is crowded from an influx of travelers.

 The Inn is packed, people feeling fortunate if they were able to get even a place to stay on the floor.

 

 Now it is late, everyone is asleep, and there is no room left.

  Fortunately, the Inn keeper is not totally without compassion. Even though his stable is crowded with his guest's animals, he offers it to these weary travelers and they welcome anything that they can get.

 

  Joseph looks over at Mary, whose attention is concentrated on fighting a contraction. Without hesitation he tells the innkeeper" We'll take it."    .

The night is still when Joseph creaks open the stable door. 

As he does, a chorus of barn animals makes a discordant note of intrusion. The stench is pungent and humid. For the Innkeeper, there have not been enough hours in the day to tend to all the guest, let alone their animals.

 

  A small oil lamp, lent to them by the Innkeeper, flickers to dance shadows on the walls. A disquieting place for a woman about to give birth to a child..

 Far from home, far from family, far from what she had expected for her first-born.

  But Mary makes no complaint. It is a relief just to finally get off the donkey. She leans back against the wall, her feet swollen, back aching, contractions growing stronger and closer together.

 

  Joseph's eyes dart around the stable. Not a minute to lose! Quickly, a feeding trough would have to make due for a crib. Hay would serve as a mattress. But what about blankets? Ah, his robe would suffice! And those rags hung out to dry would help.

  A gripping contraction doubles Mary over and sends him racing for a bucket of water.

  The birth would not be easy for the mother or for the child, for every royal privilege for this son ended at conception.

  A scream from Mary knifes through the calm of that still night. Joseph returns, breathless, water sloshing from the wooden bucket.  Sweat pours from Mary's face as her husband, the most unlikely midwife in all Judea, stands by her side.

  The involuntary contractions are not enough, and Mary has to push with all of her strength. With a final effort and a long sigh, her labor is over.

​

 The Messiah has arrived! The Son of the Most High God has been born to a lowly Jewish girl.

 The baby chokes and coughs. Joseph instinctively turns him over and clears his throat.

   Then He cries. Mary reaches for the shivering baby. She lays Him on her chest, and His helpless cries subside. His tiny head bobs around on the unfamiliar terrain.

​

 This will be the first thing that the infant King learns. Mary can feel His racing heartbeat as He gropes to nurse.

  Deity nursing from a young maiden's breast. Could anything be more puzzling or more profound?

  Joseph sits exhausted, silent, full of wonder.

  The baby finishes and sighs.  The Divine Word reduced to a few unintelligible sounds.

 Then, for the first time, His eye's fix on His mothers. Deity straining to focus. The light of the world, squinting.

 

  Tears pool in her eyes. She touches His tiny hand. And hands that once sculpted mountain ranges cling to her finger.

 She looks up at Joseph through a watery veil, their souls touch. He crowds closer to his young bride. Together they stare in awe at the baby Jesus, whose heavy eyelids begin to close. It has been a long journey. The King is tired.

 

  And so, with barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension.

  Where you would have expected angels, there were only flies. Where you would have expected heads of state, there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, a nervous ball of sheep, a tethered camel, and a few curious barn mice.

 

  Except for Joseph, there was no one to share Mary's pain, or her joy.

  Yes, there were angels announcing the Saviors arrival, but only to a few blue collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky to mark His birthplace, but only   foreigners bothered to look up and follow it.

  Thus in the little town of Bethelem... that one silent night...the royal birth of Gods Son tiptoed quietly by...as the world slept..

​

This isn't where the story ends, it is where it begins!

 

 This Child grew up, had about a three year public ministry, and then died on a cross outside of Jerusalem for your and my sin. Jesus accomplished what He had come to Earth to do!

 

  When you look into the manger what do you see?

 Do you see,  not just a cute little babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, but do you see the  cross, do you see the empty tomb, do you see the resurrected Lord of Lords and King of Kings?

 

SING SILENT-- NIGHT PAGE 85

 

    I can't think of a more appropriate, more fitting time to partake together of communion than this.

 

                                 COMMUNION

 

Matt 26:26 (NIV) While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

27 (NIV) Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.

28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

 

(Instruction--come up by family & be served communion)

 

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

 Hymn- Joy to the World- p.87

 

  Wish all of you a joyful, Merry and Christ filled Christmas!