Christmas Midnight 2019 (A)

INTRO:
1. Who has a favorite number? (ask choir members)

NICE!

2. Now everybody in church tonight… begin counting for me!!!

START………. 1 2 3 4 5 ……….

YOU DID THAT WELL!!!! YOU COUNTED!!!!

Did you know it is roughly 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem? According to GOOGLE maps it would take about 34 hours to travel the distance on foot, not counting stops for rest – nor does it consider marauding bandits in the desert and a woman at full term pregnancy???

But this is the journey that Joseph and Mary make.

This dangerous journey is NOT A CHOICE, but, a DEMAND from Caesar Augustus. He is only interested in NUMBERS to proclaim the largest empire!

He doesn’t care about PEOPLE…. Only to him numbers COUNT!!!!

Thus, THE CENSUS!

The irony is that while Joseph, Mary, and their UNBORN child are headed to Bethlehem to be counted…. In reality “THEY”, the individuals, DO NOT REALLY COUNT!!! They are faceless nobodies. They are numbers in the files of an UNCARING EMPIRE! 

But, their HOPE is not in Caesar Augustus, but in GOD! And they know that to GOD, they count!

And Bethlehem will become the center of light for the entire world to see.

Tonight we celebrate that God has become one of us and because He has become human, WE should realize the sacredness of our own humanity and the humanity of others, those seated next to us, behind us, in front of us!!! Those we don’t even know. All humanity is sacred and COUNTS to us or matters to us!

CONCLUSION

In Christ, we count, we matter, we belong, and we are holy. May we behold His face in the faces of our spouses and children, and friends and parishioners.

May we make ROOM for Him in our welcoming of every person to our Bethlehem stable – where all of us COUNT, where all of us MATTER, where all of us are HOLY in the eyes and heart of our God.

Merry Christmas!