The reading tonight comes from Luke 2:6-7. "So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
There is so much controversy surrounding exactly WHEN Christ was born. But, really, does it matter if He was born in April or December? What we are celebrating is the fact that this Amazing Person was born! This infant who was born in a stable, the most humbling of births unfitting to Someone who would one day come to save our souls.
As a mother of 3 I can relate to what Mary is going through. Here she is 9 months pregnant. She comes to this town where she doesn't know anyone. There's not even an inn for her and Joseph to stay at. Instead they are offered a barn. Seriously, a barn!?!? This woman was to give birth to the Savior of the World and He was going to be born in a barn.
I know that if it were me in that position Joseph would never hear the end of it from me!!! "Really, Joe, if we had left sooner maybe we'd have gotten a room!" or "Excuse me Mr. Innkeeper but in case you haven't noticed I'm PREGNANT and the best you can do is a barn??!!?" Oh, I'd be fuming!!!! But that is not so with Mary. She quietly accepts the accommodation. She is grateful to even have a place to stay.
So, here is Mary, in the barn with the animals, about to give birth. She doesn't even have her mother there. She has to make due with Joseph and some farm animals. And so, our Savior is born, in a stable, wrapped in some cloth to keep Him warm. What an unremarkable and humble birth for our Savior.
Through all this Mary and Joseph had been obedient to God's word. And God followed through with His promise of a Savior. God does things in His own time with His own reasoning. We need to be faithful and trust His word, just as Mary and Joseph did.
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