In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. 3 Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. 4 Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. 5 He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.
8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” 15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. 18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. 20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told. (CEB)
"In the City of David"
We
had warned the teenagers whom we had chaperoned on a mission trip across the
United States-Mexico border to Tijuana. We instructed them that when we reached the
border crossing, they were to give their passports to the customs officer, to
take off their hats and sunglasses, to sit absolutely still, and to not speak
unless spoken to. Over-protective of
us? Perhaps a bit.
But
then, amidst the long line of cars, vans, and trucks waiting to cross over the
border, we saw several street vendors wending their way through the
automobiles, selling churros—those finger-shaped sticks of dough rolled in
cinnamon sugar.
We
bought six bags. Because, you know, what
better strategy for a road trip with a van full of teenagers than to imbibe
everybody with massive amounts of sugar?
But
that also broke any tension, any inner fear, however tiny, that we would not
cross the border. And, at the end of the
mission trip, we heard the same words from the American customs agent that you
hear whenever you return to the States—“Welcome home.”
There
probably was nobody there to say that to Mary and Joseph. Not the least of which was that it wasn’t
their current home—Luke writes that they lived in Nazareth, and had to register
for Quirinius’ census because Joseph himself came from Bethlehem.
For
Joseph, at least, this is a coming home story--he's returning to his hometown, even if he misses out on visiting his old high school and favorite hangout spots. Yet in Luke’s Gospel, it’s the closest we get to learning much of
anything of Jesus’ earthly stepfather.
The protagonist in Luke’s birth story is not Joseph, but, wonderfully, Mary—she
is visited by the archangel Gabriel, she visits her relative Elizabeth, and she
sings that amazing, wonderful song, the Magnificat, which begins with the
words, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”
Joseph? Well, if Mary is the lead singer, Joseph is
one of the awkward backup dancers whose face you can’t really make out unless
you pause the music video at the exact right moment.
So
this is big, that this story, Jesus’ birth, is playing out not in Mary’s home,
where all the action had been previously, but on Joseph’s home turf. And it’s appropriate—just as Joseph is a
descendant of King David (as an aside—since Joseph was a carpenter, do you
think he ever thought to himself, “gee, where’s my crown and scepter?”),
Bethlehem was David’s birthplace just as it is Joseph’s, and just as it becomes
Jesus’. These days, we might ask if
there was something in the water there, but really, it is nothing more and
nothing less than how God works.
So
Joseph, with Mary, returns home.
Initially, it is only to register for the census. There is no indication that Jesus’ birth was
planned this way, for Him to be born in Bethlehem, except by God. You sort of have to think that Mary and
Joseph weren’t expecting it, because otherwise they would have at least tried
to find a way to adjust their travel plans accordingly.
And
so Bethlehem becomes Jesus’ home as well, at least for a little while…because
it HAD to happen this way. For born unto
us, this day, in the city of David, is a savior, Christ the Lord.
It
HAD to happen this way. For, when Jesus
is born, the heavenly hosts appear to the shepherds—a people whose lives and
work are wrapped up in being nomadic wanderers, off from place to place in
search of land for their flocks to forage on.
And
the angels say to these wanderers, “For born unto you, this day, in the city of
David…” They are saying to these men
with no permanent house, “Welcome home.”
From
there, the birth ripples out even wider.
In Matthew’s Gospel, there is the story of the wise men who came far
from the East to worship Christ the King.
They were led by a star, and the star settled over Bethlehem, over the
city of David, and beckoned the wise men forth.
The star was saying these men as well, these journeyers far from their
towns, “Welcome home.”
And
Jesus’ birth ripples out even wider and further today. Because we gather here. Amidst the cold, we gather in warmth. Amidst the dark, we gather in light. And amidst the winter, we gather in the
promise of a new season of God’s love for us.
We
have gathered in God’s house to worship the newborn Savior. And if you look back on how you came to be
here, on this night—not just the car ride here, but what brought you here: a
sense of belonging, the embrace of a community, the longing to hear the story
told…any of those things means that you were called here.
Like
the wise men, like the shepherds, like Joseph the father of Jesus, God calls to
you as well from His house to say, “Welcome home.”
Joseph,
Mary, and Jesus came to Bethlehem because it was, and is, the city of David.
You
came here tonight, a half a world away from Bethlehem, but not at all that far
away from the city of David after all.
For,
just as Jesus’ birth echoes out far and wide to all areas of the world, so too
does this mean that the city of David is no longer limited to the town of
Bethlehem. With Christ’s birth, the city
of David represents whatever it takes to bring God’s love into this world. Even if it means saddling up a very pregnant
Mary, her worried husband Joseph, and sending them off to be present for the
coming of God’s own Son, made flesh and bone with a tongue and lips to speak
our language, so that we might one day hear the Gospel.
And
for that to happen, they had to be called to their home in the city of
David.
Just
as we, too, are called.
You…me…all
of us, we have been called here, to a home—God’s home. On this night. Called to the city of David. For born unto us this night is a savior,
which is Christ the Lord. Amen.
Rev.
Eric Atcheson
Longview,
Washington
December
24, 2012
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