Sunday December 22
Luke 2:1-3
1 In those days a decree went out
from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and
was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered.
(NRSV)
Julian:
“Here is a vision shown by the goodness of God to a devout woman, and her name
is Julian, who is a recluse at Norwich and still alive, A. D. 1413, in which
vision are very many words of comfort, greatly moving for all those who desire
to be Christ’s lovers.” (125)
Luke’s
impact is on the political world so we might understand the significance of the
journey of Mary and Joseph. There needed
to be a logical reason for a husband to take his pregnant wife on a journey
from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea.
Likewise Julian makes a statement about her vision to set the
circumstances of where she is and validate the time of her vision.
Emperor
Augustus marks the time by registering everyone to show the importance of Rome
in the land and to assure that taxes are administered and collected.
Luke
marks the significance of Augustus census to set the date and surroundings of
the coming birth. He has already
explained God’s work through Mary and the announcement from the angel to Mary
and Joseph. The scriptures from Isaiah
set the stage for Messiah to be born in the city of David but Mary and Joseph
live in Nazareth so something needs to happen to get them to Bethlehem. God’s
always in control and sometimes uses unlikely people to accomplish things.
Just
remember that lots of people were traveling at this time since “All went to
their towns to be registered.”(Luke 2:3)
Sort of like this time of year when we go home to be with family to
register our presence while we recognize the significance of sharing Christmas
with each other. Mary was betrothed to
Joseph and she had to register with him, they were now a family.
Traveling
may be something we look forward to or a chore that must be endured. For Mary it could not have been an easy
journey, no matter how she traveled.
There were no nice hotels along the way so they very likely shared space
under the stars with other travelers going in the same direction. Travel was slow for them but necessary.
Your
travel may be filled with excitement and anticipation. You have prepared during Advent to share your
Christmas joy, hope and peace with those you love. In that case this joy can be the thing that
refuels you to begin your Christian year looking forward to the gift of Christ
in all you do and everyone you meet.
Your
travel may be filled with reluctance, something you must do, either to please
someone else or simply because it is always done this way and you are not
strong enough to change it right now.
Your Advent preparation may have been to give you the strength to
survive the journey, to keep Christ with you even when the peace escapes
you. Use your own identity, your gift of
Christ, to sustain you in all you do.
Like Julian make a statement of who you are, where you are and remember
there is comfort in God who sent the Son for all of us.
Question
for thought: As you journey, or even
stay where you are, what provisions can you carry with you from walking through
Advent to give you the strength to experience Christ’s love for you?
Monday December 23
Luke 2:4-7
4 Joseph
also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David
called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of
David. 5 He went to be registered
with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came
for her to deliver her child. 7
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and
laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Julian: “God the blessed Trinity, who is everlasting being, just
as he is eternal from without beginning, just so was it in his eternal purpose
to create human nature, which fair nature was first prepared for his own Son,
the second person; and when he wished by full agreement of the whole Trinity he
created us all once. And in our creating he joined and united us to himself,
and through this union we are kept as pure and as noble as we were created.
From Nazareth to Judea, a city of David, Bethlehem they came to
pay their taxes, to register as a family and now there is one more member of
this glorious family. They could not
find a room, she had to give birth to her firstborn child in a stable with
animals because the inn was already full.
Yet God in the joy and blessing of the earth allowed the second
part of the Trinity, God’s Son, the Christ, to arrive in such a place. The One who created us all, created the Son
as divine child of God and he was born in a place so simple no one would even
notice.
Joseph must have felt a pang of guilt at not being able to provide
a place for his wife to be attended to properly by a midwife other than a
stable. At least Mary was somewhat
prepared or someone brought them supplies to wrap the baby in swaddling
cloth. Then in pure love she laid him in
a manger.
A baby does not care where it lays as long as it is warm, dry and
mother is available to nurse or someone can provide a bottle. This baby has no idea of all that surrounds
him. He doesn’t know he has already been
turned away to be at the margins of society.
Bethlehem then is like Bethlehem today, separated by an authority. Then Rome was in charge and called people to
come and register in their home city.
Today, it is walled off and those who want to enter and those who want
to leave are subject to checking to see if there is room in the inn.
Walking through Advent might help us to remember what is like to
arrive at a point in life where there is no room. It may be a short time when everyone else is
too busy to even notice our arrival. It may
be a time in our life when it seems as if everyone else is moving quickly and
we move a little slower. It may be a
time of solitude when we wish to just remain in the stable, secure in the
warmth and glad to not have the need to be with everyone in the inn.
Mary and Joseph were together with the baby Jesus. It may have been a little bewildering for
them to think about all the angel told them about their son as King of Kings,
Son of the most High and reigning forever, in the simplicity of that
stable. Where is the royal welcome? Who even knows about this great child other
than the cows, sheep and donkey?
We know! We know that on a
night long ago something amazing occurred.
Keep walking, you are approaching the manger, you are like the shepherds
in the fields but the news has not broken yet.
You can anticipate the joy, the proclamation and the heavenly
chorus. Only a few more steps!
Questions for thought: Do you feel like you are face to face with
the innkeeper telling you there is no room for you in the inn? Or, are you perfectly comfortable sitting
apart and taking the time to enjoy the solitude of time with God, Holy Spirit
and Christ as the Trinity becomes more real at this time of year?
Tuesday December 24
Luke 2: 8-15
8 In that region there were
shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10 But the angel said
to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy
for all the people: 11 to you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you
will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on
earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has
taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” (NRSV)
Julian: “So I was taught that love is our Lord’s meaning. And I
saw very certainly in this and in everything that before God made us he loved
us, which love was never abated and never will be. And in this love he has done
all his works, and in this love he has made all things profitable to us, and in
this love our life is everlasting.” (342)
Glory to God, the baby is born.
Christmas eve signals the night of the birth and most often we gather to
celebrate with the singing of songs, the lighting of candles and celebrations
of joy.
Some families gather on this night to worship together, to share
in a meal and begin the Christmas celebration.
Others are trying to get everything finished before morning arrives and
some continue to work. They are that
group of servants who share their lives with those who need them: nurses,
doctors, police, fire and rescue, and our soldiers who assure we can celebrate
these days.
Love came down at Christmas and Julian says, “So I was taught that
love is our Lord’s meaning.” So
true. God loves us so much that God made
us, and God made a little baby who came to save the world.
The shepherds did not know what to think about what was happening
around them. Think about a quiet cold
night with lots of stars shining above them.
Then all of a sudden it got very loud with angels shouting about glory
and peace on earth. It is pretty scary
if you are out on a hillside and actually not very peaceful.
Yet something about the message sent them to check on a baby in a
stable in Bethlehem. They probably were
not very welcome in the city. Shepherds were not highly regarded and they
probably smelled from the sheep, sleeping in grass on the hills and just being
generally dirty. It’s a good thing it
was the middle of the night so no one would really notice their presence. The first visitors to the new King, the Son
of the Most High were far from royalty.
But they went because God’s messengers, the angels of the heavenly host
sent them.
Your Advent walking, your Advent preparation is complete. The angels are singing and sharing a message
with you about something wonderful happening nearby. In the beginning I asked you to think about
your Bethlehem. Today is the day you
begin walking there to see the amazing love God has prepared for you. It is Christ the King, the one you already
know, but perhaps because of this time of Advent preparation, it is something
new and glorious for you to experience.
My prayer is that you experience God’s blessings of love and joy
for your life. May the richness of angel
voices fill you with awe and wonder.
Wednesday December 25 – Christmas Day
Luke 2: 16-21
16 So
they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the
manger. 17 When they saw this,
they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at
what the shepherds told them. 19
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:21
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child;
and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in
the womb.
Julian: “What, do you wish to know your Lord’s meaning in this
thing? Know it well, love was his meaning.
Who reveals it to you? Love. What
did he reveal to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? For love. Remain in
this, and you will know more of the same. But you will never know different,
without end. (342)
Christmas is here, hallelujah! The shepherds hurried to find Mary,
Joseph and the baby. They told these
happy parents about the angels and the message of glory. They told them their understanding of the
Saviour to world, the Messiah, the Lord.
Simple shepherds, in a simple stable who knew all about the message Mary
and Joseph received months ago.
The scripture tells us Mary treasured these words. Of course she did, it was validation beyond
anything she could imagine. She thought
about them as she looked at her baby. A
baby is so small it is almost impossible to imagine him as King, but she knew
it was true.
Then eight days later he is officially given his name and
circumcised. A memorable ceremony, part
of his heritage, and part of his roots all the way back to Abraham. This little Jewish baby would become the
foundation of Christianity.
It was all about love.
God’s love for us is so great that God cannot imagine being separated
from us for eternity. God sent love to us to show us the way to show us the
love revealed to simple shepherds and the story continues to be told.
You may think your life is not as important as someone who has
more money, more power, more of something you don’t have but it is worth
everything. You are the one to look us
into the sky and see the angels announcing peace on earth. You are the one to continue sharing the
message you have heard. Christ the King is born. Your words will be as treasured to others as
the words of the shepherd to Mary.
May all you days be filled with God’s love. May the beginning of your Christian year lead
you to a year of peace, joy and hope.
Blessings and Merry Christmas.
I hope you have enjoyed these Advent messages. I appreciate your time to read. Please feel free to post any questions or
messages.
Rev. C. Kay Fuino
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