It’s been an at-home year in ways none of us planned for, none of us could possibly have senarioed beforehand. In many ways it parallels the birth of Jesus. Think of it from Mary’s perspective. The unexpected but welcomed pregnancy – her life, and ours forever changed. She leaves Nazareth, and travels down to just north of Bethlehem, taking time-out and receiving support for 3 months from her much older cousin Elizabeth, also pregnant with a God-worked miracle baby – John the Baptist. We don’t know the next part of her time-line. We guess back to Nazareth, and vital, patient conversations, with Joseph and her parents. Then, more disruption from the Romans: a census, and everyone has to go to their home territory. Because she is now with Joseph, it’s back down to Bethlehem, except the little town is already full, with lots of others for the census.
Here is where the actual Biblical story departs from the way we have usually heard it. The manger is absolutely correct, but ‘no room in the inn’ is all wrong. The word mistranslated as inn actually meant guest room. If your unfancy mud brick one room house had an extra room, that was where any guests slept. Because of the census, everyone’s guest rooms were already filled. So someone in Bethlehem, once they found that Joseph was a relation, just put out two extra sleeping mats amongst their own family. And when it did come time for the birth, the woman of the house, her neighbour and the midwife would have supported Mary, and they laid the new born Jesus in the nearest spot where no one would step on him, and that was the feed trough that was set into the raised floor of every mudbrick house, because the house animals were kept in the little courtyard each night, and they could just reach their head over and into the feed trough set in the floor. So Jesus is born in an ordinary house, in an ordinary village, to ordinary people. A very unglamorous start for the Saviour of the world.
Still, an unsettling time for Mary to be away from her family, as she is caught up in the swirl of international Roman events that she has no say in whatsoever. Each one of us has had a year we didn’t expect, and have had to do things differently from what we wanted, or what we planned. Just as God covered over and provided for Mary and Joseph, I hope there have been some unexpected good things that have come out of this different year for you. Some little things, and some profound things that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Shepherds are part of the wonderful ordinariness and at-homeness of the first Christmas. We exaggerated their character this evening, but it is true. They were at the bottom of the pile. They were regarded with suspicion, as it was assumed that they were quite happy to let the sheep in their care stray onto someone else’s pasture. They were treated as religiously unclean and couldn’t come into the Temple to worship. They were not allowed to give testimony in a court of law. They were automatically treated as liars and unreliable.
Think what it says about God, that he chose these to be the first to hear the good news of the Saviour’s birth. The sign, a baby wrapped in peasant cloth, and lying in a manger, meant that the amazing baby was just like one of theirs, nothing fancy, and certainly no barriers saying they weren’t good enough to visit the baby. God the Father welcomes those who are looked down by everyone else on to be the first to come and see. The shepherds are so excited when they discover this is all true, that they tell everyone about the new baby, and what he will do.
Remember that when everything or everyone is down on you. Remember that in the times that hit all of us of things going badly wrong. ‘Today, in the city of David a Saviour has been born to you ; he is Christ the Lord, and you will find him wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger. ‘
Just as then, this very approachable Saviour welcomes all. May you keep trusting in the loves that accepts you as you are, and is not put off by anything. As you discover that God’s love is deep, true and for you, no matter what, may you also be like the shepherds, who shared their good news with those around. Share that love in your own, unique way.
