12/24/2023 ~ 12/25/2023 ~ Nativity of the Christ – Proper I ~ Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) ~ Proper II ~ Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20 ~ Proper III ~ Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/898397366

Life Changes

“Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” — Luke 2:19.

There was banging on the door. “I’ll get it!” shouted Miriam. She had to get it. No one else in the crowded dinning room was paying attention. An innkeeper, she had been named Miriam after the sister of Moses, who was a great prophet in her own right.

Her husband had been dead for five years. Her children moved out of town to larger more important ones— Nazareth, Caesarea, Jerusalem. This town was commonly called the City of David, even though it was small and not much of a city. With her children gone she decided to turn her house, into an inn, though it was now much in need of repair.

When the occupying army— the Roman soldiers— needed a place to stay in the village, they chose this ramshackle hovel thinking it would not draw too much attention to their presence. They were wrong about that. And Miriam knew the ways of the world. She overcharged the Romans. That usually paid the upkeep for the entire year.

Then, because of this Roman census thing, people were flocking to Bethlehem in droves. Financially, it would be a very good year. The inn might finally get the fixing it needed.

The banging on the door persisted until Miriam opened it. Introductions were made. A man, his name was Joseph, and a very pregnant woman, her name was Mary, stood there. They were in town for the census.

Miriam thought she detected some fear in Mary’s eyes. Joseph had kind eyes and spoke softly. “We have been on the road for five days. We need someplace to stay.” Then he stated the obvious. “My wife is with child. The baby might be born anytime now.”

Miriam thought quickly. There was no room for them in the inn. It was packed. And if the woman’s time came she would need to be alone, not with a crowd.

“I have no room inside. Follow me. I think I can put you up in the barn.”

She brushed past them not seeing if they agreed or disagreed but follow they did. What choice did they have? They had tried everywhere else in town.

There were some animals in the barn— a cow, a couple of chickens, several sheep. But many stalls were empty. There was plenty of hay, more than enough to put together a makeshift place to sleep— or to bear a child— in an empty stall.

“Look— make a place to lay down. I’ll be back,” Miriam said and scurried off.

“I can’t thank you enough,” the man called after the innkeeper as she disappeared.

Miriam guessed the child would be born shortly. She sprinted to the house, found a towel, a bucket, ran to the well, tied a rope on the handle and tossed it down the shaft.

She heard it splash, guided the rope back and forth until the heft said there was enough water to make retrieving the bucket practical. She tugged the load to the surface and headed back to the barn.

As she approached she was surprised to hear the cry of an infant. In her short time away Mary had given birth.

Joseph must have acted with resourcefulness and haste. Clean hay was neatly spread out in one of the stalls. There was Mary, a crying baby cradled in her arms. Joseph sat next to her, his arm gently wrapped around her shoulder.

Miriam approached. In her straightforward, matter of fact way she said, “O.K. Let’s do what we have to do.”

She dipped a towel into the bucket and began washing the child who was in Mary’s arms. Joseph looked on.

Miriam looked at him. “You do realize your whole life has now changed.”

Joseph nodded. His eyes now showed the same kind of fear Miriam had detected in the eyes of Mary.

The crying of the baby got still louder as the infant was washed. Sensing that fear in Joseph Miriam said, “Don’t worry. From the amount of noise this baby is making I think we have a very healthy child here.”

“I understand that,” said Joseph nodding in affirmation. “But I am worried about the world this child has just entered. Our journey here took five days but that was not the arduous part. The roads are infested with brigands, thieves— that’s dangerous.”

“Our leaders seem incompetent,” Joseph continued. “That’s dangerous. The Roman Army of occupation— they are dangerous. The child does not frighten me. The world we live in? That frightens me.”

Miriam simply nodded. “We may be a small town but we have a wise Rabbi here. He once said to me life is a journey through changes. As life changes it is often dangerous, often frightening. But tomorrow will be different. You will be different. And life will present you with other different, frightening, dangerous challenges.”

“Me? My husband died five years ago. My children left— changes,” said Miriam. “I could not maintain this house without doing something. So I started the inn. Life changed; I changed. Life changes. It’s a given. You need to change with it.”

“You now have this child. As I said, your life will change completely. Indeed, that same Rabbi who told me about life changing also said we need to live life understanding the promise God makes. The promise God makes is to love us, to covenant with us, be with us, to walk with us, to walk at our side.”

Reaching out to Mary, Miriam said, “Give me the child.”

She held the baby up. The baby stopped crying. She looked deeply into the infant’s eyes. Then she handed the child to Joseph. “What do you see?”

“I see love.”

Miriam took the child and handed the child to Mary. “What do you see?”

“I see love.”

“That same Rabbi told me the covenant starts with love. When you look in the eyes of a baby you see nothing but love. This child shall see many changes in a lifetime. But God will love, covenant, be with and walk with this child through every change.”

Miriam then took the child from Mary again, cradled the child in her arms and again looked into the eyes of the infant. “The Rabbi told me God loves us so much a Messiah will be sent at some point. Now that… that will be a real change— the Messiah— loving, present, covenanting, walking with us.”

Miriam, this one named for a great prophet, said, “Who knows? This child… this child… might be the Messiah.” (Slight pause.) Amen.

12/24/2023 — Christmas Eve
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “We live in a very secular world. Hence, I try to avoid wishing people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ That’s a secular term. At Easter we Christians say Christ is risen. So if somebody says‘Merry Christmas,’ to me I say ‘Christ is with us.’ That is the real Christian sentiment of Christmas, the sentiment expressed in the Feast of the Incarnation— Christ is with us.”

BENEDICTION: “The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, / will be your everlasting light, / and your glory.” — Isaiah 60:19-20a.