Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
Psalm 96 or 96:1-4,11-12
Invite children to the front of the church.
Who knows where Jesus was born? Bethlehem
What kind of place was Jesus born in? Stable/Barn
What kinds of animals do you think were in the stable where Jesus was born?
Suggestions:
cows
goats
sheep
donkeys
horses
chickens
geese
I thought we might put together all the characters who were there that night - and make our own manger scene - and I wondered if each of you would be willing to be one of the animals..
So which animal would you like to be?
Help children decide which animal they want to be - and then ask them what kinds of sounds each animal would make. Let them practice making animal sounds for the animal they have chosen to be.
Okay - we are missing some important people though, aren't we? Who are we missing?
Mary
Baby Jesus
Joseph
Shepherds
Wise People
Help the children choose people from the congregation to play the various roles:
So who do you think we could ask to be Mary? Is there someone who has a new baby we could ask? Maybe she would bring her baby with her to be the baby Jesus?
Do you know of anyone who makes stuff with wood like a carpenter who could be Joseph?
Who loves animals a lot and would be good shepherds? Could we ask one or two people to be shepherds?
And who are some wise people we could ask to be those wise men and women who brought gifts to the baby Jesus?
Help arrange all the characters (having a bench or chair available for "Mary" and the baby) - and ask the children to do their animal sounds again to welcome the baby Jesus.
Then ask everyone to sing Away In A Manger... PAGE 101, HYMNAL
Everyone can return to their seats.
What a funny kind of God we have... What kind of God is it that dispenses with all the trappings of power and might that we would expect a supreme being to require - and comes to us as a tiny new born baby? A human child, the most helpless and vulnerable of all creatures. Why would God do that? The question makes me think of a wonderful old story...
Once long ago, there was a man who didn't believe in God. When his wife and children left for the Christmas Pageant at church one snowy Christmas Eve, he shook his head and muttered.. "That story is complete nonsense! Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? It's ridiculous!" Shortly after his family had left, the winds grew stronger and the snowfall turned into a first-class blizzard. As the man gazed out the window, all he could see was swirling snow. So he put more logs on the fire and settled down to enjoy the evening with a good book.
But then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. And then he heard another. He went outside to see what could have been making the sounds. In the field near his house, was a flock of wild geese. Apparently they'd been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. Several of them had flown into his window and were injured.. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. He had a warm barn that would make a safe refuge for them until the storm passed. So he walked out to the barn and opened the doors wide - hoping they'd notice and fly inside. But the geese just fluttered around and didn't seem to see the barn at all.
The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. So he went and got some bread and made a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the barn, but the geese still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated.
He got behind them and tried to shoo the geese toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except, of course, toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. He was about to give up when he thought to himself - "If only I were a goose, then I could save them. They would understand that I was trying to help them."
And then he had an idea. He went into the barn and got one of his own geese. Once he was behind the flock of wild geese, he released his goose who immediately flew through the flock and straight into the barn - and one by one every one of the wild geese followed.
The man thought about what'd just happened. The geese needed another goose to save them - they could trust another goose - they could understand another goose - but not a human being. He thought back to his earlier remarks when his wife and children had left for church: "Why would God want to be like us? It's ridiculous."
And suddenly it all made sense. We were like the geese - blind, lost, and stumbling around. So God became like us so that we could trust God, and understand just how much God loved us and wanted to save us. That was the meaning of Christmas!
As the winds and snow died down, the man's soul became quiet and filled with a peace he'd never known before - years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm, and he spoke his first prayer since he'd been a child, "Thank you, God, for coming as a man to lead me out of the storm!"
Tonight, the Christ child is born among us once again.
May we all give voice to the Christ born within each of us by proclaiming those glad tidings to all we meet in the storm. AMEN.