The birth of a boy was an occasion of great joy in First Century Palestine. When the time of the birth drew near so did family and friends. So also did the village musicians. They were as predictable as a band or DJ at a wedding reception. The musicians gathered near the house and the moment the birth was announced they broke into song””that is, if it was a boy. But if the birth was a girl, the musicians just went quietly away without plucking a string””they must have looked like vanquished athletes leaving the field. But if it was a boy it was as if the whole village had just won the state championship. With that in mind look again at the manger.
No family or friends gathered near. No musicians adorned the baby’s first cries. Those at this birth looked like refugees from a flood. It resembled more the birth of a girl””this boy-child, whose life would change the course of history, changing the roles of women and slaves, workers and drunks. This birth””that would make sinners into saints and kings into servants””brought no earthly chords and melodies.
Yet God whose plan brought all this about would not allow the birth of his son to go unsung. Angels took the place of the local village musicians. The glory of God suffused the atmosphere with the ethereal radiance of heaven. The celestial brightness””like the lamps and torches of kinsmen and friends””shone in the darkness of our human condition and the darkness could not overcome it. And there in the place of the kinsmen and friends came shepherds””Bedouins, splendidly disheveled””rawboned, and glorious in their joy. Angels they had seen! Good news they had heard! Joy had filled them like a child’s first words fill the heart of his father.
If the shepherds had not arrived no visitors would have graced his birth. We, of course, will make up for this on Christmas Eve. But on that night he slept with the poor. However low we may sink, his crib and cross have been there before us, for swaddling cloth and grave clothes are the fabrics of our faith. No wonder the Angels took the place of the village choir. No wonder the Shepherds arrived so filled with Joy. The Birth of the Son of God happened only once in history. Yet its message and meaning is a yearly thing. Our worship and music on Christmas will join with the angelic choir, and with our presence we will become family and friends of Mary and Joseph””because the birth of this boy, like no other that ever was, has brought each of us eternal life. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
Merry Christmas,
–(The Rt. Rev.) Mark Joseph Lawrence is Bishop of South Carolina
Beautifully written, Bishop Lawrence. I love the way he brings together the ideas of His birth and death by the fabrics involved. Will be off to sing with the choir in a couple of hours. Merry Christmas to all !