Faith Matters 22: For The Gardner News, Dec. 23, 2006
Kneeling at the Manger
Christmas is for children—this wondrous time of angels and shepherds, and kings from the East following a star. And at the center of it all is God’s great love for humanity revealed to us in a precious yet vulnerable infant born in a lowly stable to a humble family. Fortunately, inside each one of us is an open-hearted child of God who can once again be touched by the wonder of God’s great love for us. At Christmas we all have the chance to become children again.
In our church in Baldwinville the Christmas Eve tradition is to retell this wondrous story as a pageant, a tale told with carols and scripture readings and candlelight. But most important, it is a story in which we all have a role. Each person present with us on Christmas Eve has a chance to don a halo or put on wings, to become a shepherd or put on a king’s crown and take part in this amazing drama. Those who choose to forgo fleece or halos become the inhabitants of the town of Bethlehem. A bit of costume is provided for them as well. There is a part for everyone!
For a brief and magical moment adults and children are transformed into an angel choir singing the good news of Christ’s birth. Shepherds and sheep responding to the angels’ song make their way to the manger. Wise men from the East follow a star to kneel before the king born in a stable instead of a royal palace. Bankers and nurses and construction workers and teachers and high-tech geeks and college professors and landscapers and engineers and homemakers and retired men and women, as well as youth and children become part of the story of God’s great love for humanity. We are all a part of it; we all have a part to play in it.
Some of us are called to wait in lonely places, watching for signs of the new age coming. Some of us are called to prepare the way. Some of us are called to say “yes” to the seemingly impossible. Some of us look to the heavens and see signs that escape the eyes of others. Some of us come at the invitation of angelic voices or the enthusiasm of our children. All of us are called to kneel at the manger in welcome and for a brief moment bask in the pure light of God’s love. Rich or poor, high born or “just plain folks”, young or old, all are called to be part of the story. What part might you be called to play in this wondrous story? When was the last time the child inside you put on a halo or a crown?
Come, gather with the angel choir. Or, imagine yourself a shepherd (or a sheep) responding to the angel proclamation of good news for all humanity. Follow a star until it shines in the darkness over a stable in the sleepy town of Bethlehem. Or join the throngs of townspeople who come to kneel with angels and shepherds and kings, and to sing “Silent Night” by the flickering light of candles.
Jesus reminds us that unless we become like children we can’t enter the kingdom of God. Christmas gives all of us the chance to become the children God calls us to be. Open your heart to the wonder of this holy night and greet the One who came to be Emmanuel, God with Us. Come and kneel at the manger. Come, let us all adore him, Christ, the Lord!