A few years ago, I went to Bethlehem, the real McCoy Bethlehem, in Israel.
I hoped for a sweet quiet contemplative moment in the Church of the Nativity, built over the cave where the stable was and where Jesus was born so long ago. I was hoping for peaceful rest, stars in the sky, cattle lowing, sheep grazing, maybe even an angel choir to sing for me. Yeah, well…
Bethlehem is crazy busy, hustle bustle, with armed Palestinian guards at the razor wire gate, 10,000 people crammed in trying to get through long lines, elbowing each other as they each try to get into the small space where the birth place is found. It’s tense, hot, noisy, overcrowded, and it’s just not the experience I had hoped to have.
In the middle of the crowd, however, as our tour group felt frustrated, I said to my fellow travelers, “Isn’t it amazing that all these people still are coming here to remember and celebrate the birth of our savior? Wouldn’t it be sad if we were here all alone?” Then, we suddenly realized, this was more like the experience Mary and Joseph had when they went to Bethlehem, too.
The streets were filled with tired, grumpy travelers. Homes were crowded. The markets were packed as everyone took care of guests in town for the census. There was no guest room for them. Just a stable out back for some privacy while that young mom gave birth to her peasant child, who really is the King of all Creation.
Christ had come into the chaos, the mess, the tensions and the weariness we all feel in life. Christ came as that sweet child, meek and mild, the babe wrapped up in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Christ had come, God in flesh and blood, to live as we could not, then, to die and rise for us, so we could live as His new creations.
He came to redeem us so we could all live in the peace and comfort, quiet and joy I had hoped to find in Bethlehem. He gives us those gifts here and now, every day, and on Christmas Eve, in a wonderful candle light service.
Come experience that Christmas peace for all mankind of which the angels sang. Come join us on Christmas Eve, at 7 p.m., and on Christmas Morning, at 9 a.m., at Hosanna. We will sing praise to the one who is God’s Peace on Earth.
Hosanna Lutheran Church is located at 9601 E. Brown Road.