Christmas Eve 2019 + William Bradbury

Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

On the order of the government, a pregnant girl and her fiancé travel 90 miles to his ancestral home, where she gives birth to her first-born son and places him in a manger. There is no celestial light and choir of angels; and in Luke’s story there are no kingly visitors who have traveled from afar. There is no health insurance and no hospital. Just one of a million refugee families suffering the cruelty of politicians and living off the mercy of strangers. Move along! Nothing out of the ordinary to see here. Yet Luke tell us something extraordinary does happen somewhere else that same night: to poor shepherds with their flock by night there is an eruption of angels, singing and celebrating the birth of the savior, who is Christ the Lord. The angel says there is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.