By beginning, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed,” Luke highlighted the power of the occupying Empire to inconvenience not just Mary and Joseph but the whole world.  Historians note that “Quirinius” stretches the historicity of Luke’s timeline, but a particularly cruel governor, Quirinius” remind the readers of Rome’s sometimes capricious oppression. 

Amy, if you and the Chapel Choir ever decide to turn Luke’s Christmas story into a musical, Luke gives us two solos and an angel choir anthem in the first two chapters. Mary’s Magnificat declares  how God “scatters the delusions of the proud, brings down the powerful, lifts up the lowly, feeds the hungry and sends the rich away empty handed.”  Zechariah sings of a kin-dom where people “live without fear, experience compassion, know forgiveness, and walk in the way of peace” I grew up learning that the angels’ glorious proclamation: “to you is born this day in the city of  (King) David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” was all about my personal salvation. I have slowly come to understand that Jesus did not just come to save my soul, but to transform our world. The angels give Jesus names and titles that the religious and cultural leaders will one day use to accuse Jesus of treason. Pilot’s sign will read “King of the Jews” (Mark 15)  In Matthew, we read how God told the Holy Family to flee King Herod and seek refugee status in Egypt. (Matthew 2) The Gospels tell us that the whole world was a mess and yet tonight the angels sing “good news of great joy for all people”.  

Holding ancestral land in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary must walk the 75 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to update tax records. A pregnant Mary riding a donkey to a sleepy little town of Bethlehem makes a lovely Christmas card, but I am not sure how comfortable a 75 mile donkey ride really is.  Most likely Mary and Joseph walked. If they had a burro they put the trip provisions, their household goods and the carpentry tools on it.  

How was the trip? We do not know what Mary and Joseph talked about as they walked to Bethlehem but they barely knew each other.  With an arranged marriage they never were allowed a private conversion before marriage. Luke tells us when Mary learned she was pregnant “she went with haste” to her Aunt Elizabeth’s home in the hill country. Perhaps Mary shared her fears of her parent’s response or the culture’s harsh purity code. When Joseph found out that Mary was expecting, he initially decided to divorce Mary quietly. I wonder if Joseph shared the dream that  changed his mind? We don’t know what this not-quite married couple talked about, but they had a lot they could discuss. Sometimes I wonder why God, who can divide the Red Sea, did not get Mary and Joseph together in the same room, at the same time and send one angel with the same message for both of them?   Is that not the best corporate communication policy?  God rarely overwhelms us with handwriting on the wall or messages in the clouds, God speaks most often in a still small voice wooing us towards love and justice. 

They arrive in Joseph’s hometown and find no room in anyone’s guestroom.  I wonder if Mary’s pregnancy was not welcomed by the family or if the stable offered greater privacy than the small crowded homes most people lived in?  We don’t know, but barns provide warmth, water, and shelter. There would be greater privacy and farm animals don’t judge anyone, who is kind. Surely there was a midwife, Jewish culture and tradition demanded it. Today, our porcelain nativities seem almost charming but Jesus was born in a place not designed for human habitation. They wrap their firstborn in borrowed rags and place Jesus in a cow’s feed box.  Who would pick this setting? How is it that our manger scenes ( and crosses) proclaim “good news of great joy for all people”?   

Out in the hills around Bethlehem, shepherds are living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Christ, the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly a multitude of the heavenly hosts were praising God and singing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those who will abide in God’s peace!” 

The shepherds go with haste and find the Holy Family. They found the same joy the magi found. They were “overwhelmed with joy” and returned to work “glorifying and praising God for all they have heard and seen.”  How might the shepherds feel seeing an unhoused family, away from home, barely married, wrapping their baby in borrowed clothes and laying them a feedbox crib? They might see that manger scene and go home weeping for the injustice of it all: they do not.  They find joy in the manger. They see faith, hope and love in Mary and Joseph. They rejoiced understanding that Mary was treasuring all this in her heart. The Shepherd returned to the fields  singing hymns of hope and praise, that we echo tonight. 

So how does the Bible’s story of cruel rulers, a barely married couple, an oppressive purity culture, an unhoused family, a baby wrapped in rags, a feedbox crib, new parents about to become refugees add up to “good news of great joy for all people”?

Christmas is about God with us.  

Christmas is about God choosing to be in the middle of where we are.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”, wherever we are.  (John 1)

In the manger, at the table, or on the cross- God is with us 

And wherever God is, there is good news of great joy for all people.

Wherever God is, there is hope. 

Wherever God is, there is courage. 

Wherever God is, there is human dignity. 

Wherever God is, justice is thriving. 

Wherever God is, love is growing. 

Wherever God is, peacemakers are arriving. 

Wherever God is, joy is emerging.

Wherever God is, meals are being made for hungry people.

Wherever God is, the sick are being cared for. 

Wherever God is, strangers are being welcomed. 

Wherever God is, refugees are being protected.

Wherever God is, there is room for everyone. 

Wherever God is, all people, means all people, not just some. 

Wherever God is, hostile walls are falling.

Wherever God is, judging is ending.

Wherever God is, evil, injustice and oppression is resisted.  

Wherever God is, there is good news of great joy for everyone.

Wherever God is, faith, hope and Love endures

Wherever God is, forgiveness grows

Wherever God is, fear is failing. 

Wherever God is,  there is good news of great joy for all the people.   

Friends, we believe that God’s love for all of us is so great, that nothing can separate us from the Love of God. (Romans 12) God so loved us that God chose to become one of us, to show us the way of love. ( John 1 & 3, 1 John 4)  So let us hold our candles high tonight and sing full throated praises to God, no matter what might be right in front of us, because God is with us. And wherever God is there is good news for all people. Amen