In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
Emperor Augustus decides he needs to know more about the people over whom he rules. How many are there? Who are they? How are they connected? One way to track people is by grouping them based on their families. After all, it can be assumed that everyone has a family. They have ancestral roots that are traceable. People can be identified and tracked based on their families. So, he instructs everyone to go to their ancestral homes. In a sense, Emperor Augustus mandates family reunions to create the first census.
Doing as they are told, Joseph and Mary head for Bethlehem because Joseph is from the line of David and David lived in Bethlehem. We should rightly assume that all of Joseph’s family, if they didn’t already live in Bethlehem, would have done the same. The bottom line being, Mary and Joseph should not have been alone when they got to Bethlehem.
They should have encountered family there. There likely was even family living in the area. They could have even travelled with family. So, why is it that our story has them so isolated? Why does their child end up in a manger because there is no place for them in the inn? How did a young couple, heavily pregnant, at a family gathering fall through the cracks? How does anyone fall through the cracks?
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.
The image is so contrary to what we expect for a birth story. It is nothing like the way most children are born today. Typically, there are caregivers present – medical professionals, midwives, doulas, someone who knows what they are doing and can help the pregnant parent through the delivery. There are support systems in place in the event something goes wrong. There is family on hand to help the parents and welcome the newborn.
That is the typical experience, and while we live in a context where we assume this is the reality, we know there are exceptions. We know there are those who fall through the cracks. We know there are those who are left isolated, without the support and help of others.
In fact, there are many ways families fall through the cracks. There are families that exist in encampments, without homes, without supports, without opportunities. They live in fear of those times when police will come and forcefully pull down their tents, their homes expecting them to move beyond the sight of those who are disturbed by their presence.
There are families who are forced to flee their homes. Migrants, and refugees who realise it is safer to trek across vast terrain in the hopes of finding welcome than it is to stay where they are. Some will never make it to that safety. Some will encounter extreme prejudice. Some will end up in cells with little left of their humanity falling through the cracks.
God knows people fall through the cracks. So, God meets us here. In the peace and beauty of the manger God proclaims to the world God’s love for those who are alone, those who struggle, and those who feel abandoned by the world. By coming to a young couple who somehow ended up on the margins, God reminds us all that God meets us on the margins too. There is no place too small, too distant, too dirty, too difficult for God. God’s love reaches everywhere!
God’s love reaches everywhere. That’s the real story of Christmas. There is no place where God’s love can’t be found. There is no one who God doesn’t already love.
The question then becomes: how do we respond? What do we do knowing that God’s love transcends every situation? How do we become a sign of that love for those who need it? How do we live the gift of Christmas every day?
There is grace, beauty, and love embedded in the story of Christmas because God comes into this world in a way that is graceful, beautiful, and loving. May we embody the love of Christmas in our encounters this season and everyday. This we pray as we sing: (SNC) 43 Holy Child Within the Manger