Wednesday, December 16, 2009
It's Hard To Believe
"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
Malachi 4:5 (NIV)
This is my 2nd favorite Christian holiday. Easter being the first. The anticipation of God's Messiah, the excitement in the air, the truth of God's promise. I don't like the commercialism but the symbolic realism of Immanuel, God with us.
The story of Christ's birth is both miraculous and mundane. Yes, the promise of a virgin birth proclaimed hundreds of years before and, then, the actual event. The mundane lies in the events of recorded and understood history.
Emprer Augustus required a census be taken throughout the Roman Empire this forcing people to travel distances to "home" towns to have their existence recorded. Joseph and Mary were no exception. And the Holy Couple were not unique. There were expectant parents traveling across the land in order to comply with the order of Rome.
And when pilgrims arrived at there destination there wasn't enough room for most of them. Many stayed with relatives but many slept out in the element or found caves and even another manger or two.
Imagine Joseph and Mary arriving in his ancesteral home and not having a place to stay, not even family. An Innkeeper takes pity and offers his manger.
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 20: 11-12
The Manger. Possibly a cave converted for the keep of animals; most likely the basement of a person's home. Take it from a farmboy, this would would not be pleasant. If you don't realize that sheep, cattle, swine and all other barnyard animals smell and when brought together under one roof it is overwhelmingly nauseating.
Then there is the issue of manure and hay and the mixing of the two. The dry mold, the stench, the dust, the varmits and birds nesting. Yes, there is mold in Israel. No sanitation, no privacy, no birthing bed. All Mary possibly had was Joseph's saddle and a couple of blankets for comfort.
Then there is the issue of manure and hay and the mixing of the two. The dry mold, the stench, the dust, the varmits and birds nesting. Yes, there is mold in Israel. No sanitation, no privacy, no birthing bed. All Mary possibly had was Joseph's saddle and a couple of blankets for comfort.
The Manger Sucks!!
BUT . . . THE PROMISE KEPT WAS WORTH MORE THAN THE SACRIFICE!!
Millions of Angels proclaiming to the most despicable of society, shepherds, that the KING OF KINGS has been born. Wisemen, Royalty traveled from Eastern Middle East to bow down in cow dung to worship a baby called the PRINCE OF PEACE.
The Messiah promised is now here, born in Bethlehem to a young woman from the seed of Yahweh. God was present as one of us and inside those who believe.
God IS with us. He is part of our lives in total. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. Never forget the sacrifice of God's human family for the sake of the world's family.
God Bless all of you. Prepare for the Christ Child to be part of your life.
~Webb~
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