Today's Scripture Reading (November 30, 2023): John 1
In my mind, as
I read John's words about the Word becoming flesh, I see the scene that is told
by Matthew and Luke of this young couple who came to Bethlehem and Luke's
insistence that there was no room in the local Holiday Inn, and the Ramada was completely
booked up as well. (I know, permit me my poetic license.) But then the owner of
the Holiday Inn says, "Listen, I have this stable out back. You could stay
there." As preachers, we pound our fists and yell that Jesus was born in a
barn and not a sterilized version of a stable like some of the manger scenes that
we have on display. This barn stunk of the animals that made that place their
home. And you had to watch where you set your feet because you might step into
something, and we wouldn't want that. We stress the "poop" of the
situation. Can you imagine the condition that the God of this world entered
that night in Bethlehem? When did you last sleep in a barn because there was no
room at the inn?
I know us. We
see a hair on the floor in the hotel bathroom and freak out. And if there is
mold, well, we would never go back to that hotel ever again. But sometimes I
wonder if we might make a colossal mistake and miss the real message behind the
birth of Jesus, all because we don't understand the manger birth. I mean, having
a baby in a stable is something that we would never consider, so Jesus enters
the world in a way that we never would. Were you born in a manger? When was the
last time you slept in a barn? Just give the date, although I'm sure there's a
great story behind that night. For most of us, the answer is that we never have
spent a night in a barn. And when we are traveling, a local stable is never
considered a legitimate substitute for a hotel bed if there is no room at the
local Holiday Inn.
A few years
ago, I reread Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers." I had read
the book years earlier but decided to read all six of Dumas's Musketeer
chronicles. And in one of the books, either the second or third, there is this
story about the King on the move. When a king moves, a whole entourage goes
with him. When a king and his company would enter a town, the need for sleeping
quarters always surpassed the number of beds available. As a result, there was
a pecking order; the most important people would get the beds while the rest
would have to make other arrangements. As Dumas tells the story, he speaks of
the enterprising D'Artagnan and Porthos arriving at the town early and buying
up all of the available hay. The purpose was that when the entourage arrived,
they could sell the hay to people at a premium price and make some money. With
no room at the inn, the hay could be purchased to provide a soft place to lie
down, maybe in a dry stable or under the shelter of a tree. In the book, Dumas matter-of-factly
presents the idea. It is a logical solution to an all-too-common problem.
Dumas's story
takes place in the late 1600s or early 1700s. In other words, Dumas's heroes
sold their hay to allow people to sleep in a stable 1700 years after the manger
birth presented in Luke. Is it possible that what was a standard or logical
solution for a lack of sleeping arrangments in eighteenth-century France was
also an expected solution to a similar problem in 5 B.C.E. Israel? In a world
that didn't have a Motel Six in every community, maybe sleeping in the hay was
a typical experience.
If that is
true, then maybe the real message of the baby born in a manger is one of
normality. Jesus did not come into this
world as a priest or a king; he was born into our mess. He came to a place with
which we could identify. The problem with how we often see the Christmas story
is that Jesus enters the world in a way that we struggle to understand because
we have never been forced to make a choice like the one Mary and Joseph were
forced to make on that night. It is like telling a missionary story; the immediate
reaction is often, "That's a nice story, but things like that never happen
in my world." God's intention in telling the story of Jesus's birth is
that when Jesus came to us, his birth was filled with normality.
In our world,
it wouldn't be a manger; instead, it would be a local hospital, and Jesus would
be just another kid born in a regular maternity ward, just like most of us
were. There were no special favors or silver spoons; Jesus came and was born
like you and me. As a result, Jesus is someone with whom we can identify.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew
3
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