Christmas Eve Pajama Service

Luke 2:1-20 One of my favorite Christmases was when my kids were very little and all the Grandparents came. The trouble was that there was a terrible cold and flu being passed around. Well, that Christmas our youngest who was about about 2 ½ received a Doctor's Bag for a present. He put on one of his father's white shirts, and had this head band with a reflector on top of his head. He would go from patient to patient lying on couches groaning, or sitting at the kitchen table sniffling and coughing. He would methodically set down his bag and open it, taking out what he called the THETHISCOPE to put in his ears. After a moment, he would shake his head saying “Very Bad, very bad, only one thing to do” Then he would lean over to give the Mom or Dad or Grandma a wet Kiss and declare “All Better.” In many ways that is what Christmas is all about. We are sick. There is an awful lot of groaning going on. There are a lot of hurts and hates, which anyone could diagnose as Very Bad. But what makes it better is the love of a child, a very special child, the child of God. Long, long, long ago, before well before there was anything else, there was God. And God decided it was God's job to Create, so God created everything, The world. The Stars and Moon and Sun. The mountains and rivers and lakes and oceans. God created the birds and fish and bugs and horses and cows and donkeys, and puppies. And God created people. And for a long time, that was all there was. But people did not do what God created us to do. Instead people hurt each other. So God did something no one had ever done before, and no one has ever seen since, something people imagined long before but nobody ever thought was going to happen. God recreated god-self as a human being, just like us! Now if God was going to live among us, that person would be pretty special wouldn't they? As God, they would be ALL POWERFUL, but he did not come as a Soldier, or Police or Firefighter. As God, they would be ALL KNOWING, but he did not come as a Scientist or College Professor or Teacher. God, the Creator of Everything that is, who had been around for ever, you might expect them to be VERY OLD, but God who is well GOD, became a BABY. Not “like” a baby, became a real baby. They would have to be born in the finest Palace, or Church, and his parents would have to be Celebrities or Heroes, right? Except his Mom was just a girl named Mary. And his Dad was just a man named Joe. He was not born in a Palace or a Church, or even in a hospital, he was born in a Barn, not even a real barn, just a stable for animals. And they did not even have a crib or cradle for the Baby, so they took the feed trough from the cow and donkey, the place where they put hay for the animals to eat and used this to put the baby in. And when Babies are born, you want everybody to know, so on the computer, or in the mail you tell everyone the baby's name and birthdate and how big the baby was. But when God was a baby ANGELS real Angels spread the news, not on Facebook, not in the NY Times or People Magazine. Instead The Angels told Shepherds! Can you believe it Shepherds out in the Country. Do you know ANY shepherds who command people? Shepherds do not even lead sheep, Shepherds follow the sheep, and push them, shepherds never Call out to the world: “Hey, Angels Told Us: God has been Born!” They did not know the Baby's name, or even his Mom or Dad's name... They did not have an address... they did not even know exactly when or any of the important stuff about the baby. Shepherds move slow, following their sheep, keeping them out of trouble. But instead, the Shepherds ran quickly and brought with them their whole flock of sheep. They went straight to the Stable where Mary and Joseph were with the baby. And the Shepherds told them everything that had been told to them.