Living Manger Scene
Luke 2:8-14
When I was home for college one year in
The
church asked me to be in the live manger scene.
Since
I had a slight beard and long hair
(it
was the early seventies)
I
was asked to be Joseph.
It was
cold out, and we had to stand outside for a while
but since I
kind of liked the girl who was Mary
I agreed to be in the manger scene.
It was interesting to see the cars that
Came to see this very amateur
presentation
of the Nativity.
We at
least had costumes and time to prepare
To
play the part of Joseph, Mary
the Wiseman and the shepherds
But tonight I simply picked people from the
congregation
Who
came to this Christmas Eve worship service simply
Wanting
to sit quietly in the pew and listen
To
the story and sing the carols.
All of
a sudden these people were part of the drama
Of
God’s son Jesus Christ entering into the world.
All
of a sudden a person was asked
To
prophecy to the world the story
Of
the savior of the world.
All
of a sudden this Mary was asked to hold
A
very live baby and our Joseph was asked
To
stand by Mary no matter what.
They
don’t have costumes,
just the
clothes came in, modern clothes,
clothes they put on to celebrate
the birth of Christ in 2006.
And we chose them to tell the story-
not unlike the first Isaiah and Mary and
Joseph.
And
then when everyone was breathing
A
sigh of relief that they didn’t have
To
be in the drama we invited everyone
To
play the part of the angels
To sing “Gloria, in excelsis Deo”
The word angelos literally means messenger
and I do believe that we at different times in our lives
are
called to be messengers of God.
Sometimes we know and are very aware
Like
when our deacons deliver food
Or
when we visit at the hospital,
But
sometime we don’t even know
When
God is asking us to deliver
a word of hope to another human.
When we
encounter someone at work or
At the grocery store and ask
How
they are doing
And
they start to cry.
Of
course it is important to know
What
message you are delivering.
One
of our college students, home on break asked
What
does “Gloria in excelsis Deo” mean:
It means “Glory to God in the Highest”
So
it was great to hear the congregation
Standing
and singing in full voice
The
song the angels sang.
When we play the part of angels,
messengers,
We
sense that we are above the world.
“Gloria,
in excelsis Deo”
Glory
to God in the highest.
But the story of the birth of Jesus is
God who
Is
willing to go to the lowest depths
To
be with God’s people.
God went into the fields to the
shepherds
And
they were the first human persons who
Heard
the story of Jesus birth
From
the angels.
Not
only that but they were asked to do something
They
were asked to get up from their work
And
go to personally see this thing
That
the Lord made know to them. “When the angels had left them and gone into
heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to
So today, as
we sing “Away in a Manger I want to invite you
To get up out of your comfortable seats and
Come
and see this thing the Lord has made known.
Come and see a young women,
not unlike Mary
and a young
man, not unlike Joseph
and a baby, not unlike Jesus
and remember that God chose such a young
man and
women to be the parents of
his only begotten son, Jesus.
And as you get settled back into your seats and as
Our
Mary and Joseph and Jesus go back to there seats
I
invite you to do the same thing that Mary
And
the Shepherds did:
“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 had 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”
Tell
others what you have seen and heard,
Treasure
it and ponder it in your heart,
And
praise and glorify God. Amen