God with Us
“For a child is born to us, / an heir given to us; / authority, dominion rests upon the shoulders / of this One, who is named: / Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, / Everlasting Sovereign, Source of Peace.” — Isaiah 9:6.
He had been awake for some time now. The noise those hooligan shepherds made as they ran, stumbled helter-skelter down the main street of the town, shouting, singing, making odd, loud noises— this commotion had roused him from slumber.
Were they drunk? It seemed likely. After all, they were shepherds.
He did not want to count sheep in an effort to become reacquainted with the bed. It only reminded him of that despicable crew who tended sheep. Incantations to Morpheus, the Roman god of sleep, did not seem to help find the rest he craved, either. Finally, he gave up, stood, dressed, built a fire, heated some water. (Slight pause.)
His name was Yoseph Ben Mattithyahu— Joseph, son of Matthias. But he had taken the name Titus Flavius Josephus. [1] It sounded more... Roman. In this society, dominated as it was by Rome, it helped to fit in.
To say Titus was an ambitious young fellow would have been an understatement. He constantly made efforts to place himself among the powerful in hope of being noticed. He had already visited big, important towns in this quest for power. He had been to Jerusalem and had seen the court, the Sanhedrin, had spoken with the High Priests.
He had been to Damascus, where Quirinius, governor of Syria, ruled with an iron fist. He had been to Caesarea, the city Herod, the Jewish King appointed by the Romans, had built. Herod, Caesar’s local puppet, to prove loyalty, had named that seaport in honor of Augustus.
And, yes, Titus wanted to see Rome, wanted see the Emperor. It was said, after all, that Augustus was... a God. Indeed, the Romans, insisting Caesar was divine, had given Augustus a title— “Prince of Peace.” (Slight pause.)
Despite being ambitious, despite seeking power, here he was, stuck in this backwater town called... Bethlehem. Two minutes after he arrived as the local representative of the King Herod’s government, he regretted it.
Those who lived here insisted this was the City of David. While he knew a prophet had called it that, he often wondered how the greatest ruler Israel ever saw could possibly have come from this place. Bethlehem— there was poverty. There were peasants. There was little else.
And yet... and yet... this town which claimed in its heritage the great monarch had been mentioned by a prophet, had it not? What did that prophet say? (Slight pause.)
He could not remember. He was more concerned with being a good Roman citizen than with being a Jew. (Slight pause.)
Titus heard a noise. He opened the door and looked down the road. Here they were again— those shepherds— and they seemed to be no less quiet then they were the first time through town. He decided to confront them.
These shepherds might be hooligans, but they dare not cross him or there would be consequences. He was, after all, Herod’s representative.
There were four of them. He was alone. Displaying more belligerence than reason, he stood in the middle of the street and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Stop!” (Slight pause.)
Much to his surprise, they did. That left him dumbfounded. He did not quite know what to do.
One of the shepherds, short and rotund, approached him. “Have you heard?”
“Heard?” asked Titus.
The four were suddenly standing all around him. He began to think confrontation was a bad idea. But they made no aggressive moves. Instead they all started to speak at once.
“A child has been born.”
“Angels were singing.”
“God visited us, invited us.”
“An heir to David.”
“Messiah.”
“Covenant”
“Sovereign.
“Peace.”
“Inn.”
“Stable.”
“Manger.”
“God.”
“Baby.”
Suddenly the four of them ran off, headed toward the end of town where they would find their sheep still grazing in hill country beyond. (Slight pause.) Titus was left standing alone, confused, dazed, not quite able to understand what was going on.
“David... Messiah... covenant... sovereign... peace... inn... stable... manger... God... baby;” what did it all mean? He wandered in the direction from which the shepherds had come. He did not know what to look for or what he was looking for. He did know he needed to look.
Titus turned the corner around a building and there before him there was a stable and a man and a woman sitting by a fire. He approached. As he did so, he saw the woman held a child, clearly a newborn.
He walked right up to her. The child was asleep. She nodded and smiled with her eyes. He nodded and smiled back. She held the baby up to him. His reaction was natural. He took the child in his arms. (Slight pause.)
He suddenly felt a warmth he had never experienced before. He wondered what was going on. It was as if a comforting cloak of rich cloth had descended on his shoulders.
Titus looked down at the tiny head, the little dark curls. The child opened its eyes. He looked into those eyes and the child looked back.
One phrase was running through his head. “God with us.” No matter how he tried, he could not think of anything else. “God with us.”
What did this mean? Once again, he was confused, dazed, not quite able to understand what was going on. He sensed this had something to do with power, not the temporal power he craved, but the power of God. (Slight pause.)
“God with us.” (Slight pause.) Was it God who had real authority? If so, what did that have to do with this helpless baby? (Slight pause.)
Titus handed the child back to the woman and walked away. He could not figure out what all this meant. Perhaps he would go to the synagogue tomorrow and speak with the Rabbi. He sensed he needed to know more about God and wondered why this was so.
But, having held the child, he somehow knew God had been present in that moment. He somehow knew it was the dominion of God which matters most, knew God is the only sovereign, knew God is the real source of... peace... knew that God is with us. (Slight pause.)
It would be years before Titus recognized the moment he knew all this was exactly when he looked into the eyes of the child. Amen.
12/24/2010
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have often said Christmas is the most important Christian feast on the secular calendar. At the very least for Easter, Pentecost, the Epiphany and Trinity Sunday should be counted as more important than Christmas. In an effort to reclaim real Christmas, let me make a suggestion, one I make each year. Please do not wish people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ When you greet someone say ‘Happy Christmas.’ People can be merry about the new year, but let’s be happy about what we celebrate tonight: the birth of the Messiah, present in our midst.”
[1] Students of history will notice I’ve appropriated the name Yoseph Ben Mattithyahu (Joseph son of Matthias) who used the Roman name Titus Flavius Josephus. Known by Josephus, he was the 1st century Romano-Jewish historian who recorded Jewish history, such as the First Jewish–Roman War, a war which resulted in the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. He has been credited by many as recording some of the earliest history of Jesus, the Christ, outside of the gospels. My unwritten, unspoken conceit is that this Josephus could have been the grandfather of the historian.
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