Luke's Christmas Story

During the time following John’s birth these things took place.  The emperor of Rome, Augustus, declared that all the inhabitants of the empire should be counted.  This was the first census that occurred while Quirinius was ruling the province of Syria.  Now all the inhabitants went forth to be counted, each one going to his own city.  Joseph, departing the town of Nazareth in Galilee, went up to Judea to the town of Bethlehem, the city of David, because he was from the household and lineage of David, and he took with him Mary, who had been promised to him as a wife, who was now pregnant.

         While they were there in Bethlehem her time came and she gave birth to her first-born son, and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him down in a feeding crib because there was no room in the place of lodging for them.

         In the same region there were shepherds outside of town guarding their sheep during the night watch.  An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord illuminated them and they were tremendously scared.  Then the angel said:

“Do not be scared! See! I am proclaiming to you a tremendous joy which will be joy for all people: A Savior has been born today in the city of David, the Lord’s anointed, the Messiah!  This is how you will know, you will find a newborn wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding crib.”

Suddenly, a heavenly army appeared with the angel praising God while saying:

         “Glory be to God in the highest places

         Peace be to those whom God favors on earth.”

As the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds were talking among themselves:

“Let us go quickly as far as Bethlehem and let us see the word of the event that the Lord made known to us.”

Going with all haste they looked for it, even Mary and Joseph, but especially the newborn lying in the feeding crib. Upon seeing this they made known the message spoken to them concerning this infant.  Everyone hearing these words was amazed at the reports by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured all these words, pondering them in her heart.  Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for everything they heard and saw, because it was just like they had been told.

Stan Harstine Translation

Christmas Musings 2011

It's been a wonderful week for thinking about Christmas.  Isn't it amazing that our first question is "what did you get" instead of "what did you give" for Christmas? Christmas is about giving, indeed it is a celebration about giving.  I've been fortunate to be reminded of that on several occasions this week.

Most of you aren't familiar with Wichita radio stations on Sunday morning, but I was asked to be a guest of Steve McIntosh for a Christmas morning broadcast.  I can't count how many times he said, "that's amazing" as we talked about the first Christmas, what we know, what we don't know and other options about the birth of this one later named Jesus.  You can catch the podcast at http://audio.knssradio.com/a/49962759/issues-2011-12-25-11.htm?

So what should I say about Christmas morning, our celebration and the Minor prophets?  It may be a stretch, but we should focus more on giving to the poor and needy and focus less on getting more toys that we call 'necessary.'  We should probably look to the widows and orphans, or in modern language those who don't have any one to care and protect them in times of crisis.  We should also look to meeting the needs of the suffering, those who are ill, aged, unemployed, and even those who have been abused by the powers of the world we live in.  I will be the first to admit that I don't frequently visit those corridors.  I am thankful that many of my students are wanting to visit those corridors and make them home!

Christmas is a holiday when we can be around family, enjoy one another's company, and realize our blessings.  Too often it becomes a time for old feelings to be trampled upon, for complaints to be voiced, once again, for what someone else has not done in the past, and a time to fulfill our own selfish gratifications.

I hope that you and yours have a very, merry Christmas.  I hope that as you reflect on the year gone by that you will focus on the blessings received through your acts of kindness and generosity and not focus on the ways in which you may have been wronged.  I also hope that you will take time to reflect on what you have been given, and what you give in turn to others.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.