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Gospel: Luke 2: 1-14
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“She laid him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn.”
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It’s hard to imagine any place being so full that it was impossible to make room for Mary, a peasant teenager on the verge of giving birth to her child.
If we were one of the guests staying at the inn that night, wouldn’t we have made room for her and Joseph by sharing, if not giving up, our room?
Yet inns at that time were risqué places, certainly at night. There you’d find everything from loud noise and excessive drinking to mischievous behavior and theft. It was no place for a child – and certainly the Son of God – to be born.
So, Mary gives birth to Jesus outside in the cold, in the middle of the night. She holds him tightly, rocks him to sleep, and places him in a manger – or what was likely a feeding trough.
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Yes, our Savior was born in the dark. Yes, he was born in the cold. Yes, he was born into poverty. Yes, he became a refugee a short while thereafter, fleeing the wrath of Herod.
But that first Christmas night, while the smell and rancor of the inn lingered in the distance, our Lord was born in peace, surrounded by the most precious gift life has to offer:
Love.
It’s what brings us here tonight. Like Joseph and Mary, we gather to gaze upon the Christ-child in awe, wonder, and love.
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Aside from Mary and Joseph, Luke tells us that the first ones to see the Lord were the shepherds. They were out tending their sheep on an otherwise ordinary night, when suddenly an angel appears to them, sharing the Good News.
A child has been born in Bethlehem, Christ the Lord.
What the angel says to them transforms their experience of the night. Prior to this angelic visitation, the shepherds would’ve harbored a certain fear of the darkness, of the night. Keeping watch over their flock after sunset was dangerous business.
There was the constant fear of being attacked, either by wolves searching for their next snack, or by thieves lurking in the bushes. Occasionally, violent storms would also erupt without warning.
Then there was the dark shadow of Herod’s reign hanging over the people. Like some leaders today, he’d do anything to stay in power.
But the angel reveals to the shepherds that there was someone else working in the darkness, in the night – God had come to visit his people as a child in Bethlehem.
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We gather this Christmas all too aware of the darkness that still plagues our world – and, at times, our own lives. Whether it’s yet another war, another shooting, another hospital stay, another bill to pay, or just another stressful day as we try finding our way.
But the shepherds remind us, in spite of these things, that God is working in the night. He is Wonder-Counselor, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, God with us.
God for us.
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“There was no room for him in the inn.”
There couldn’t be. It wasn’t a worthy dwelling place for the Son of God. A quiet stable out in the cold was sufficient, for there he was safe and loved that first Christmas night.
This Christmas, may we welcome the warmth of Christ into our hearts, for he is not afraid of the night and has come to save us.
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Image credits: (1) WorshipHouse Media (2) Catholic Answers (3) The New Harvest Christian Fellowship