Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:11-14
This year at our annual Santa’s Workshop I had the joy of sharing the Christmas Story with the children as they come to the nativity scene stop in their rotation. Each time I read the story I paused at the part of the story when baby Jesus was “born in a manger”. The reason for this pause was for more than just asking the kids to describe a manager. The pause in the story was to send the message to the children that Jesus was born as baby just like they were, but even more importantly in a “dirty/stinky manger”. During my pause I had the children describe the manger. Many of them had very colorful descriptions as to why the manger would be stinky and dirty. Their childlike descriptions allowed me to bring in the message of how our Savior was born in a lowly place. We talked about how God sent his son to be born in the most unexpected place, a place where a king, the Savior of the world would never likely be found. This is a very important part of the story that many of us even as adults forget to reflect on. As remember and reflect we can make the connection that Jesus being born in this place was making him accessible to us. This accessibility shows humility and love, which gives us hope for the things in our life that might be stinky or dirty.
This Christmas remember that hope. Take a moment to pause and reflect on the stinky and dirty place that you have been taken from in life because of the gift of our Messiah. I tell the children often that Jesus was born in a stink and dirty place where animals lived to show us that no matter where we are in our lives he is able to come and save us!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Hope Terhaar