In that time, in that place, and with those people, God intervened human history. I was struck this year by how specifically Luke tells the story of Jesus’ birth. Here what Luke says:
In that time: In those days … while they were there … the time came … this day …
In that place: Nazareth … Bethlehem …. In that region …in the fields … in this city … in the manger … not in the inn / upper room
With or through these people: Emperor / Caesar… Quirinius … Mary and Joseph … descendant of David … angels … shepherds …
Luke sites the story of Jesus in a very particular time and place, with very specific people. The birth occurs in a place important to Jewish history, the city King David came from. Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, is a descendant of that same King David. Tradition holds that the next messiah will come from David’s family.
We are used to the translation from the Greek word kataluma into English as inn. We read, there was no room in the inn. But the same word is translated elsewhere in Luke as upper room. This room is on the second floor of many houses, and used for storage and as a guest room. It’s the same type of room, the same Greek word, for the location of Jesus last supper.
Because of the census, there were extra people in town, so the guest room in the family home was already occupied by another family. Many homes of that time and later had two sections, one for their animals, the other for the family. There was a divider between the sections with troughs or mangers for feed along the top of the divider, making the animal side of the house a stable. To protect their animals, families often brought them inside at night to protect them from wolves and theft. In the winter, the animals kept the house warm.
The animal area was kept clean, and it was a more private place for the birth than the middle of the living area. The manger made a perfect place to keep a baby safe and warm when he is not being held. By the way, Luke doesn’t mention it, but there was probably a midwife present, either someone in the family or a professional in the town.
Once the baby is born, angels appear to some shepherds in a nearby field. Shepherds were smelly people, because sheep are smelly. They are social outcasts, because they are suspected of being thieves. The angels tell the shepherds about the birth of the messiah, sing praise songs and disappear. The shepherds decide on their own to visit the baby, then leave the home and tell everyone what they have seen on their way back to the field.
This story is so specific because Luke wants people to know it really happened. It seems so far away in time and distance and possibility that it can sound to us more like a fairy tale. How do you respond to it? Do you believe it happened?
If this event were happening today, would you believe it? What if Mary lives in the woods near here, because her family lost their home during the recession. What if Mary lives in the Barrios of Los Angeles. What if Mary lives in modern Bethlehem, Israel. Now, would you believe it?
If you were an IRS agent, or a fisherman, or construction worker, and angels appeared out of nowhere would you believe you were seeing angels? Would you believe their message that the Savior had just been born? And would you go into the woods, or into the Barrios, or to Bethlehem to see the baby? Would you tell your friends and neighbors? Would you tell your family members?
Tonight we hear good news, the same good news that has been told for the last 2,000 years. The Messiah, the Savior, has been born, to a young girl, in Bethlehem, under the reign of Caesar Augustus and Quirinius and Herod.
Tonight we remember that God loves each of us just as we are, just as everyone loves to hold and cuddle a newborn baby. In God’s eyes, we are that baby that God loves to hold and cuddle. God wanted so much for us to know how much we are loved that God became human, just for us.
Imagine tonight that you have gone to Bethlehem, to a small house, to visit a tiny baby. Tell Mary that you have been told he is the Messiah, the Savior, the Lord. Ask Mary if you can hold him, just for a minute. Reach out your hands to receive him. Tell him that you love him and will serve him for the rest of your life.
Give the baby back to his mother, and leave. As you head home, tell someone that you have just held the Savior of the world and want to share the experience with them.
Please pray with me. Jesus, you came into the world to teach us what true love is. Help us to love you, and to love others you put into our lives. Amen