Gather for AdventSample

Gather at the Manger in Wonder - A Reading

Reader 1: Have you ever imagined what it was like for Joseph and Mary to welcome Jesus into the world?

Reader 2: The excruciating pain of giving birth without the help of modern medicine

R1: All the effort and travail as Mary pushed the Savior into the world.

R2: And then there was the shocking location of the delivery,

R1: No medical staff to assist

R2: Just cows lowing,

R1: And sheep bundled together like so many living cotton balls.

R2: The smells and the sounds that accompanied the Incarnation were not the high notes of trumpets and the mystical perfumes of incense.

R1: They were the braying of donkeys accented by the scent of manure and hay.

R2: So many emotions must have filled that small stable meant to house cows, goats and chickens.

R1: From our vantage point it seems almost humorous that this was the birthplace for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

R2: And yet in the midst of the anxieties of childbirth and the hopes of the baby’s arrival

R1: After the rush of adrenaline

R2: Amid the flurry of prayers in those intimate moments as Joseph encouraged Mary to deliver the baby

R1: Don’t you think there was also a sense of wonder?

R2: No one can see God and live, the scripture tells us.

R1: And yet there, in Bethlehem, not only did Mary and Joseph suddenly see God

R2: But they held him in their very arms.

R1: The high priest, and he but once a year, entered the holy of holies to atone for the sin of Israel.

R2: And yet there, in the stable, Mary and Joseph sat in the presence of the living God

R1: The God of life who gives all living things breath was suddenly dependent on Mary and Joseph to live.

R2: The very One who created the worlds, he who is the exact imprint of God’s very being

R1: Was wrapped in swaddling cloth.

R2: Jesus, who sustains all things by his powerful word, slept in the arms of new, exhausted parents.

R1: A baby who had not yet learned to speak.

R2: As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, let’s go to the manger with a sense of wonder.

R1: Like Joseph, let us be amazed that the child is a child of heaven.

R2: Like Mary, may we contemplate the miracle that Christ, the hope of glory, is here.

R1: Like the wise man who gave a gift of incense because he understood that the baby would become a priest,

R2: Let us remember that Jesus is our Great High Priest—

R1: The Great High Priest who once for all takes away the sin of the world

R2: Through the power of his perfect and indestructible life.

R1: This Advent season we take time to ponder the miracle and the mystery of the Christ child.

R2: We take time to remember that the story of Christmas is filled with so much human emotion.

R1: As we light the Candle of Advent we remember the miracles of God.

R2: Today we come to the manger in a sense of awe and wonder.

Action:

As you light the candle of Advent, reflect on the mystery that Jesus, the great high priest, on the first Christmas, arrived as a little baby, completely dependent on two new, tired parents.