| Children’s Christmas Pageant Luke 2:1-20 |
Christmas pageants are wonderful. I can still remember the Christmas pageant that I was in when I was about 8 years old. I was a shepherd. My costume was my bathrobe; you know the flannel kind with a dark plaid. And even though they did not give me a shepherd’s crook or a stick I did a pretty good job of herding those two legged sheep to the manger. How many of you were part of a Christmas pageant when you were growing up?
One of the dangers of Christmas is believing that Christmas is just for kids. Just stop and think about it. "T’was the Night Before Christ." "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Most of the stories associated with Christmas are for kids. To top it off we have Santa Claus come’n to town.
As cute as our children were in the Christmas pageant this morning, the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is not just for kids. We don’t reach a time growing up when we discover that Jesus isn’t real – like we do with Santa Claus. The story of the birth of Jesus may certainly challenge us as adults – the virgin birth, the angels announcing his birth to the shepherds, wise men from the East following a star to Bethlehem, the list could go on…
The Christmas story is about God, and it is about us. It is about how God decided to reveal himself to the people of the world, and it is about the reaction of people to the presence of God.
I believe that the characters of the pageant encompass human reaction to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.
Mary, chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. Her world is turned upside down by the appearance of an angel with a message from God. It would have been just as easy, maybe even easier for Mary to ignore or refuse the opportunity given to her by God, than to accept it. Her life was full of preparation to begin a life long relationship with Joseph, and now God wanted her to make room in her life to bring forth not only a son, but the Son of God. Certainly God was being unrealistic.
The beauty of Mary is revealed in her response to the angel Gabriel, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Even though her initial reaction was one of doubting how this could happen to her, through faith she places her trust in God.
For us, Mary, has become the model of our Christian calling. It is saying yes to God, making room within us for the indwelling of God in Jesus Christ.
Joseph, the husband of Mary, chosen by God to be Jesus’ earthly father. Somehow, despite the important role of Joseph in the birth of Jesus, he is often overlooked. We miss seeing how the sacrifice and faith of Joseph is essential for the birth of Jesus. An angel tells Joseph while he is asleep that Mary has become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. He could have dismissed it as a dream, or nightmare. He could have just as easily dismissed Mary and walked away from it all. But he didn’t. In the midst of something he could not total comprehend, he acknowledges God’s plan for him.
When all of the evidence says that we should play it safe, to follow common sense and dismiss quietly the directions of the Lord, Joseph stands before us to remind us that we must be faithful in spite of all of our misgivings. Even though we may hear a voice from within that whispers, "Maybe it was just a dream, don’t be fooled, look out for yourself," we must draw upon our faith to respond and follow where God is leading us.
The shepherds, the first witnesses of the birth of the Messiah. They were just doing their job when the angels overwhelmed them with the announcement of Jesus’ birth. They were no-bodies, certainly God could have chosen someone more important to be the first witnesses of his Son’s birth. And why would they believe these alien beings in the first place? Were they just curiosity seekers? It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that they went and saw. And more than that, they believed!
Are you a no-body? Well, hold on to your seat. God seems to choose the no-bodies of this world for pretty important missions.
The sheep, they had no idea what was going on. The shepherds herded them to the cave to be a part of the story. Unable to comprehend what was happening, who this Jesus was, and what he meant for the life of the world, they were just there.
I believe that the sheep are our children. We bring them to church, even when they are very young. They are unable to comprehend what is going on, who Jesus is, and what he means for their lives, yet they are exposed to the faith from which we draw so much strength. Eventually, we hope, they will become the shepherds and bring their children to church to hear the story, just like we did.
There is one character that was absent from the pageant this morning, the innkeeper. I wonder how someone could be so insensitive as to turn a pregnant woman away. There was no room in the inn and there was no compassion in the innkeeper. He was preoccupied with his own business and did not have time to be generous to Joseph and Mary, let alone waste his time with religion. There were more important things to do in life than worship and pray.
Maybe it is appropriate that we did not have an innkeeper this morning. If he did not have room for Mary or Joseph, he wouldn’t have room for Jesus either.
So here we are, just a couple of days from the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus. We are part of the story of his birth, because he came for our salvation. Which character in the story are we? Mary? Joseph? The shepherds? The lambs? How has God spoken to you and invited you to become one of the participants of his plan of salvation?