Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Wednesday, 24 December 2014 “She gave birth to … a son … and laid him in a manger”Daily Scripture: Luke 2: The Birth of Jesus
1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.
6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
Reflection Questions:
Christmas is one key story about God’s Great Reversal. Caesar Augustus, a human who thought he was a god, issued a decree that forced Mary and Joseph to make a hard trip with Mary nine months pregnant. Jesus, the true God become human, spent his first night on earth in a humble animal shelter in Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve, we reflect on the birth of the child who showed us God’s kind of power—the power of selfless love.
• Scholar William Barclay wrote, hauntingly, “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus … He sought an entry to the over-crowded hearts of men; he could not find it His search—and his rejection—go on.” What role is Jesus playing in your Christmas celebration this year? How are you making room in your heart, and in your life, for him?
• A contemporary Christmas song has Joseph say, “Why me? I’m just a simple man of trade … Why here, inside this stable filled with hay? Why her? She’s just an ordinary girl … This is such a strange way to save the world.” If you were God, would you trust the Messiah to a family as poor and “ordinary” as Mary and Joseph formed? What are some of the key ways God’s values challenge yours?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you were born in a stable, and laid in a feeding trough. Be born in my messy, yearning heart this Christmas Eve, Lord, and dwell in me forever. Amen.
Insight from Kari Burgess
Kari Burgess is a Program Director for the Catalyst team, handling promotion and marketing for all of the conferences held at Resurrection, as well as registration and coordinating hospitality volunteers.
Some of my earliest Christmas memories are of my father sitting in his big armchair with the family King James Bible, reading the Christmas story from Luke, starting with today’s passage. For as long as I can
remember, we’ve gathered around his chair each Christmas and read this story. In the early days, it would be on Christmas Eve. We would have dinner (mom would always make oyster stew for my dad, much to the dismay of the rest of us), read the Christmas story and choose one gift under the tree to open. (Note: in the 1975 photo at right, Kari is the blond looking at the camera.) We would then go to candlelight Christmas Eve service at 11:00pm. It was magic to me that it was Christmas when we left the Sanctuary after singing “Joy to the World” in candlelight.
remember, we’ve gathered around his chair each Christmas and read this story. In the early days, it would be on Christmas Eve. We would have dinner (mom would always make oyster stew for my dad, much to the dismay of the rest of us), read the Christmas story and choose one gift under the tree to open. (Note: in the 1975 photo at right, Kari is the blond looking at the camera.) We would then go to candlelight Christmas Eve service at 11:00pm. It was magic to me that it was Christmas when we left the Sanctuary after singing “Joy to the World” in candlelight.
In more recent years, the tradition has continued but with a few changes as we kids now have families and extended families of our own. Christmas with my family is now generally celebrated a day or two after the 25th. But it does not matter the day we celebrate—it is that we find a time to celebrate together.
We still gather around dad’s chair, but now there are eight grandchildren who clamor for a good
spot near Papa. Some years there has been much wiggling by littler ones and some heavy sighing from teenagers. No matter. He passes the large Bible around, so each grandchild can have a turn reading a portion of the story. Each eagerly takes their turn, Papa helping with some of the trickier words. One part of the tradition doesn’t change: each time, I get a lump in my throat watching as my father instills the importance of scripture and the true meaning of Christmas to all of his grandchildren.
spot near Papa. Some years there has been much wiggling by littler ones and some heavy sighing from teenagers. No matter. He passes the large Bible around, so each grandchild can have a turn reading a portion of the story. Each eagerly takes their turn, Papa helping with some of the trickier words. One part of the tradition doesn’t change: each time, I get a lump in my throat watching as my father instills the importance of scripture and the true meaning of Christmas to all of his grandchildren.
In the midst 
of all of the hubbub around the holidays—the shopping, the wrapping, the gift giving, the cookie making, the lavish meals and parties, it is important to my father that we take this time to be reverent and acknowledge the birth of our Savior. He continues the tradition in part to shape and form his grandchildren in the faith that has been central to his life. But the tradition is just as important to the adults in the room as a reminder of where our focus should be: on the Christ child, born in such humble circumstances to save us from ourselves. I am grateful to my earthly father for this gift of tradition. And grateful to my Heavenly Father for the greatest gift, the gift of his Son, given to all of us.
of all of the hubbub around the holidays—the shopping, the wrapping, the gift giving, the cookie making, the lavish meals and parties, it is important to my father that we take this time to be reverent and acknowledge the birth of our Savior. He continues the tradition in part to shape and form his grandchildren in the faith that has been central to his life. But the tradition is just as important to the adults in the room as a reminder of where our focus should be: on the Christ child, born in such humble circumstances to save us from ourselves. I am grateful to my earthly father for this gift of tradition. And grateful to my Heavenly Father for the greatest gift, the gift of his Son, given to all of us.
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