HE LOOKED SO TINY LYING THERE
Reading
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7
The meditation of Mary
He looked so tiny lying there,
so vulnerable –
like a little china doll,
like thistledown swaying in the breeze –
and I wanted simply to hold him in my arms
and protect him from the world outside.
Could this be God’s Son, I asked,
the one destined to be great,
the Prince of Peace,
a ruler over Israel?
Surely not!
It had been hard enough to believe at the start,
when the angel first broke the news –
to think that I, Mary, had been chosen above all others,
singled out to bear in my womb the Messiah –
but now, as I gazed down into the manger,
and saw those little arms waving,
that sweet innocent face wrinkled up in sleep,
and those eyes so tightly shut,
it seemed doubly impossible,
out of the question,
a foolish fancy of my fevered imagination.
Be sensible, I told myself,
there’s no way God could take such a gamble,
no possibility, if the fate of the world truly hung in the balance,
that he would stake it all on a helpless child,
least of all one born where we found ourselves –
a stable of all places!
And, as if to prove the point, that very moment Jesus awoke,
tears filling his eyes,
a scream of protest on his lips,
and I realised he was hungry,
well past his usual feed.
It dawned on me then, the staggering implications –
he needed me, this child,
not just for food, or warmth, or protection,
but for everything,
his very future in my hands.
Would God allow that?
Could he ever need us as much as we need him?
No, there had to be some mistake –
it just couldn’t be, could it?
Could it?
Prayer
Gracious God,
you came to our world in fulfilment of your promises of old,
your word embodied in a child lying in a manger.
You loved us so much
that you staked everything
to break down the barriers that keep us from you.
You shared our humanity from birth to death,
so that with you we might share your eternity,
life in all its fullness.
You became God with us,
so that we might become one with you.
Teach us that, as you needed Mary’s response then,
you need our response now;
our willingness to accept your mercy
and experience the blessings you so long to give us.
Come again now and be born in our hearts,
so that we may truly love you
and joyfully serve you, this and every day;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.