Forward

      As a pastor of a United Church of Christ I always tried my best to make my Christmas messages meaningful for both the adults and the children. To me there was no point in preaching just to the grownups in the congregation. Out of these sermons have come a number of Christmas plays and stories.
      Here for your pleasure are two short stories of Christmas. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them and producing them in this eBook.
      Merry Christmas, 2000
      Ken Mattern

One More Road To Follow

     Listen, I want to tell you a story!
     All heaven was in a tither! Wonderful things were about to happen down there on earth. The angel choirs were practicing their music. The trumpeters and other heavenly musicians were tuning up for the big event. Everything was scrubbed down, the streets of gold hadn't looked this good in millennia. Everything was rush, rush, rush.
     But in one back room they weren't rushing around, they weren't singing, or even tuning up. Instead they were sitting around a big old oak table and they were talking, well, fighting might be a better word.
     "Did too!"
     "Did not, I did!"
     "No you didn't, as God almighty is my witness I was first!"
     "No you weren't."
     I need not go one. They had been arguing like this for days. Never really saying much of anything, other than "did" or "didn't". I don't know how long it might have gone on if a new comer hadn't come in just then.
     He stood there, tall and proud. He looked down on the two who were arguing and not really saying anything worth while. "What are you two fighting about now?", he asked. He knew them well enough to know that they did this more frequently than you or I might know.
     The two combatants looked up from the table and both began to talk at once and they both said exactly the same thing. "I was the one who was first!"
     The newcomer closed the door to the street, and if you would have looked you would have seen a sign on the door that said, "Hall of the Prophets", right before it closed. The newcomer walked to the table and sat at its head. He laughed out loud at the other two. Can you imagine that? Here you are, the big event is about to take place, the greatest prophet of them all is about to come on the scene, and you two are arguing about who was first? First what? No, don't tell me, let me guess? First to get to the table? First to grab onto something to eat? No, it can't be that. Oh, I give up. First to what?"
     The two looked at him. Then they both clearly said, together, as if they had practiced it, but we know they didn't. "I was the first to proclaim the coming of the King!" Then they both crossed their arms and plumped them on the table, just so. And then they sat there and looked at the newcomer as if to say, so now what are you going to do?"

     The newcomer shook his head and laughed. It was a deep fruity laugh, kind of what a favorite uncle might laugh like. "I just don't know what I'm going to do about you two. I know this might start you all over again, but let me ask you this question, what does it matter? Wasn't it God who put the words in your mouth? You didn't think of them yourselves did you?
     "Micah, did you really think up those words, 'But thou, O Bethlehem, you who are smallest in the towns of Judah, from you shall come forth for me the one who is to be the ruler in Israel.' You didn't really make them up yourself, did you. Before you answer, just remember that I was there when you spoke them. I was there!
     Micah just looked at the table.
     "And what about you", he looked at the other man, "what did you say, Hosea? "I called my son out of Egypt.', were those your words, or were they God's words?"
     Hosea looked at the table too.
     "Now just why are you arguing? Surely it can't be because you want to be the first to make the prophecy. After all, if you look you'll find so many prophecies spread out through history that nobody can really claim to be first. It must be deeper than that. I know that the two of you like to argue, but there must be something else."
     The two old prophets looked at the table, then they looked at each other, and then they looked at the newcomer.
     Finally Micah spoke, "Isaiah, we both know that you spoke so many words about the coming of the king that I think we both wanted to have some distinction. After all, it was you who said, 'for onto us a child is born, onto us a son is given...'"
     "You are correct. I said those words, but I never thought of them. I didn't make them up, or pluck them out of thin air. The Lord God put those words into my mouth, and made me speak them, and all of the other words I ever spoke as a prophet. After all, that's what we were for. We were the men who spoke the true word of God. But that still doesn't tell me why you were fighting. Heavens, what were you really arguing about?"

     Hosea looked up and said, "all of heaven is in an uproar about the coming king, and there is no part for me in it. There's no part for Micah either, or for you for that matter. We're feeling left out of the celebration."
     Isaiah laughed so hard you might think that he would split. "No part? Where have you two been? No, don't answer that. I think you two have been so busy fighting that you haven't really paid any attention to what has really been going on. Now get up and come with me."
     All three of the got up and went out into the street and walked toward the center of heaven. Now heaven is really very big, but going anywhere, even clear across heaven, takes less time to do than I have used in telling you about it. And so before you know it they were there, at the center of heaven. What's the center of heaven like? Well I can hardly describe it. It's kind of bright and shiny. The light radiates out and fills everyone who comes near it with joy and peace. Because of that you can imagine that the two fighting prophets were filled with peace and no longer wanted to fight, which was very good, because they were about to approach the throne of God. Believe me, you don't want to fight when you are standing in front of God.
     As the three prophets came near the throne of God they heard a very musical voice, kind of what you might think Santa Clause might sound like, saying, "gentlemen, gentlemen, come in. I've wanted to see you." and he laughed. No, this wasn't God. This was Gabriel, you know, the angel who told Mary that she was going to have a baby. Gabriel was an angel who announced the word of God. He spoke to people with the direct word of God. But this was his other job, working in the throne room of God.
     The three gathered around Gabriel and he spoke to them. "Of all the prophets you three have been the most influential in telling the world about the coming king. Isaiah, as the chief prophet it falls to you to lead Micah and Hosea on a very special trip. The Lord needs you one more time, to do his will.
     "We're sending you back to earth one more time. You see there is one more thing that the Lord needs of you. But you'll have to change your names for a short period of time." And then Gabriel told them their new names and their assignment.
     "Now get back to the Hall of the Prophets and get ready. You'll have to leave almost at once." Now time has a funny way of passing in heaven, as I have already told you. "almost at once" was really so soon, that you could not even begin to blink your eye before that amount of time passed. And so, almost before they knew it, and before we really do know it, they found themselves on a dusty road in a place called Israel.
     "That was fast", Micah said.
     The other two agreed that it was indeed fast. It was night time where they were. As they stood on the road they looked into the sky. They saw an extremely bright star. You and I might call it a super nova, but they called it a sign from God. I think that they were just as right, if not more so, that we are in deciding what to call it. So let's call it a really bright star!
     Isaiah pointed to the star and said to the others, "I think we should follow that really bright star, don't you."
     Hosea said, "yes I think we should, Isaiah."
     "No, call me by the name I have been given for this trip." said Isaiah.
     "Sorry", said Hosea.
     And so they set off, down the road that night as they followed the star. They walked all night and well into the next day. They only had one road to follow and so it didn't matter when they traveled. But, you know, if you or should I say they, looked carefully they could even see the star in the daytime. It was truly a miraculous star to be seen both at night and in the daytime. Perhaps it wasn't a nova at all, because it would have to be seen at the same time every day, and not all day and all night. But I'm getting away from my story.
     And so they walked and followed the star. After a number of days they came to the city of Jerusalem. Isaiah, yes, I know that they had different names, but let's not get confused. Isaiah said to the others, "you know, we should go and visit the king, just out of courtesy, you know."
     The other two agreed and so they went to the palace of the king. His name was Herod.
     When they got there they asked the king if he could tell them where the king of the Jews had been born.
     The king got all excited about that, after all he was the king and he didn't want to give up his job to someone else. But he played it really cool and called for his chief priests and asked them where the king would be born.
     And do you know what happened then? Well they said "In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. for this is what the prophet wrote, 'but thou O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will guide my people Israel."
     Micah almost burst with pride when they quoted his own words, but Isaiah poked him in the ribs and that reminded him that God really told him what to say. But I can tell you that he still was proud.
     Well they took their leave of king Herod and got back on the road and headed for Bethlehem. It was only a long day's journey to that town.
     As they walked they talked about a lot of things. One of the things they all talked about was the work that they had done for the Lord.
     "You know", Isaiah said, "I always wanted to be able to meet the new king. I spoke so many words about him to the people of my day that I almost felt that I knew him, even back then."
     "I felt the same way. Many of my words have been forgotten, but I spoke God's words about the new king, and I felt that I knew him as well," Hosea said.
     "That's how I feel as well," said Micah.
     And they walked on.
     Now you may not know this but they had each picked out a special gift to give the king when they met him. Isaiah took Gold, Micah had frankincense, a kind of incense, and Hosea took Myrrh, a perfume that was very expensive. They felt that these were gifts fitting a king.
     And finally they got to the place where the new king was. They were at an inn called the Crippled Camel. And they found the king in the stable. Now you might ask what the king was doing in a stable, but that's another story.
     And they went in.
     And there they found him, not a grown man, as you might think, but a little baby. And he was lying in a manger. His mother, who was named Mary, was sitting next to him and his father, Joseph, stood tall and proud above them both.
     As Micah saw the child he nearly burst into tears. Instead he knelt and worshipped the child, whose name was Jesus, and gave his gift. Isaiah and Hosea knelt and worshipped the king and presented their gifts as well.
     And they were filled with joy. They each had wished, as they were living men, prophets of the Lord, that they would have the opportunity to see and worship the Son of God, the King, the Messiah. And on that first Christmas, so long ago, God in his wonderful love fulfilled their deepest wish and they saw and worshipped the king. and their lives were complete.
     I hope that this Christmas you too will see and worship the king, the Son of God, the Messiah. And that you too, just as they were, are filled with joy and peace that only comes form God.

At The Crippled Camel
      The Crippled Camel Inn was crowded, that night. Jacob bar Jonah, the innkeeper, hadn't seen a crowd that big in many a year. All the rooms were filled. People were even sleeping on the roof and in the common eating room. Jacob could not have squeezed in another person no matter how hard he tried.
      If there was no one else, at least he was happy for the Roman census. Had it not been for that the place would be nearly empty, rather than filled to overflowing. But his new guests all wanted attention. There were people from Jerusalem who were demanding service, any kind of service. There were quite people from Galilee, soft spoken with an accent that made their voices almost slurred, who just wanted some peace and quite. Others were hungry and some wanted better quarters, even when there were no quarters at all. And Jacob was rushing like mad to take care of everybody.
      The knock on the door was so soft that almost no one heard it, and everyone who did ignored it. But then it came again. It came at a time when all the conversation in the room came to a lull and it came a little more insistent, a little louder. Three soft raps, in quick succession. Jacob looked up and muttered under his beard about who that could be "pounding" on a decent man's door, "at this time of night."
      He muttered as he walked to the door. He opened it a crack and peered through. There was a man standing there and in the short distance behind him Jacob could see a woman. The man looked nervous and the woman looked sick. She was sweating, even thought he night was almost cold.
      "What is it you want. The inn is full! Full I say!"
      "Kind sir, we need a place to stay, and we need it badly. My wife is about to have a child, she is in labor now. We need a warm, safe place, and someone to assist. Can you help us, there is no other place in the town and we are desperate."
      "No place. No place in the Crippled Camel! We're all full up here!" As Jacob scowled at the man and woman his wife, who worked there in the house with him, looked over his shoulder to see what was going on.
      "Jacob," she said to him. "What is going on here? Can't you see this woman is in need? What do you think you're doing, turning them away on a cold night like this. Isn't there anything in your heart but a lump of stone?"
      "But where will we put them, woman? In the stable?" Jacob snorted.
      "The stable is better than no place at all. This woman is in desperate need. She's going to have a baby, and if you don't put them up somewhere she may very well have it right here on your doorstep. How would you like that? Move aside, I'll take care of them. You tend to the paying customers inside. Go away." She turned to the man and woman. "Come with me." She smiled at them "There is a warm and dry place in the back of the stable near the granary. The animals don't bed back there. And there is water handy. Let me get you settled in and then I'll find your wife some help." As they walked the sort distance to the stable, which was cut into the limestone hillside behind the inn itself, the man Joseph could hear the woman muttering something about the "Romans anyway", under her breath.
      She led them to the stable and got them settled in. She left to find the woman, whose name was Mary, some help. Help arrived soon enough from the servants of the inn and in the quiet dark hours of the morning a child was born.
      While he was waiting, the man, whose name was Joseph, made a nest in which to place the child. He took some straw and placed it in a feed trough and then he placed a blanket from their pack in it. There was a small hearth and he built a little fire there for added warmth. As he worked he heard the cry of his wife, Mary, and then he heard the cry of a child. It was a boy, and he was to be named Jesus!
      Outside of the town, that night, in the hills there were shepherds with their flocks of sheep. Most of them were sleeping and the ones on watch were talking quietly among themselves. As they talked a hush came over the world. The slight breeze seemed to stand still. The fire at their feet ceased to crackle and spit. Even the sheep seemed to be still. It was almost as though they had suddenly been painted upon the backdrop of the hills and skies. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed. Nothing made a sound.
      Then, without warning, the sky was filled with light and sound. It was as though all the stars became so much brighter. The moon hung full above their heads and bathed the world in its soft radiance. The air suddenly seemed to hum and vibrate with a beat and power all its own. There was an electric tingle in the air and they were filled with dread. Some of them fell to the ground in fear and trembling, afraid, perhaps, that the world was about to come to it's end.
      Then they began to hear what sounded like an army, singing songs of war and might in the distance. The voices began as a faint beat or rhythm, a marching song. The words were muffled at first and the shepherds began to think that they were being overtaken by an invading army, though they could not hear the sound of horse, or wagon, or the equipment of war.
      Soon they could hear the words. The beat was filled with words. "Glory, glory, glory, glory." The chant came closer as the skies increased in radiance. Louder came the voices, "Glory, glory, glory, glory." And the shepherds were terrified. They believed that they were about to die.
      The chant became louder and then, new voices overlaid the chant of "glory" And the new words matched the rhythm and the might and the power of the deeper voices. And the words became a shout!
            "Glory to God, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.
      Glory to God, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth."

            And the skies were filled with the hosts of heaven. Angels of the Lord come down to earth. And their song was a song of joy!

            And one angel came and stood among the shepherds as they cowered on the ground.

            "Get up!" it said. "Get up and do not be afraid. For I bring you news of great joy and happiness that is for all people. This very night in the town of David the savior has been born to you. He is the Christ, he is the Lord. And this is how you will know it. You will find the child wrapped in blankets and lying in a manger."

            And as the angel spoke the skies were filled with radiant beings who took up the song:

            "Glory to God, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.
      Glory to God, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth,
      Good will towards men, good will towards men!
      Glory to God, glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth,
      Good will towards men, good will towards men!"

      And suddenly they were gone! The fire snapped and flared, the sheep bleated in the night and the breeze played about the men's faces and their hair.
      The shepherds decided to go and see the child of which the angels sang. And so they all got up and headed for the town. Nobody stayed back to watch the sheep. Somehow they rightly believed that they would all be safe. And they were.
      They traveled to the town and wondered where they should look. By common consent they believed that the child could be found only at the place of the Crippled Camel, Old Jacob's place. So that is where they went.
      The Shepherds arrived at the place and went into the stable and found, exactly as they had been told by the angel, the child, lying in a nest of straw in a manger. A beautiful boy child. The radiance of the parents and of the baby himself was such that the room seemed filled completely with radiant light. The shepherds knelt and worshipped the child. They spoke of the angels and the stars and the singing. The parents listened intently to their story, almost as though they were memorizing every word. And then they left, to return to the hills and their sheep. The shepherds were filled with peace and joy at what they had seen, and the memory stayed with them all their lives.
      As they walked back to the hills if they had looked they might have seen a very bright star detach itself from the backdrop of the heavens and move to a position directly over the place where the child lay. A star to mark the birth of the baby.
      But the star also shone in their hearts as they climbed the streets and roads to the hills. It shone in their hearts just as it shines in the hearts of all people everywhere this very night.
      Glory to God in the highest heavens, for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful Councelor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace.
      Glory to God in the highest heavens and on earth peace and goodwill to all people, every where, for the son of God is born! Like shepherds we to gather this night in this place to bow and worship the newborn king. And like shepherds we too will leave this place with peace and joy in our hearts. Peace and joy which only can come from God, the heavenly father of the child Jesus and our own heavenly father as well.
      The sun rose slowly over the town of Bethlehem. The shadows of the hills slowly slid down the facade of the Crippled Camel Inn. As the day grew brighter the light came to rest upon the lintel of the doorway of the stable of the inn. The stable was carved into the limestone hillside next to the inn itself. The light moved down over the doorway and a beam of light pierced the darkness of the interior of the stable. Down the back wall, by the granary, it wended its way. As it passed it d for an imperceptible moment on the face of a newborn baby. The child, a boy, involuntarily squeezed his eyes tighter shut and raised a little fist, as if in defiance of the invading ray of light.
      A shadow was cast over the child as his father moved between him and the light. The child, who would be named Jesus, was lying in a feed trough, in a nest of straw and blankets which his father had made for him the night before when we was born. All was quiet as the child slept on, unaware of the world around him.
      The sun rose higher in the sky and the town became alive. People came from their homes and the business of a new day began. In the hills outside of town there were some shepherds with their flocks of sheep. In the night they had witnessed a miraculous event. As they had been watching their sheep a tremendous host of heaven's angels appeared in the still night sky and sang hymns of praise and glory to God. The angels told the shepherds that a child had been born in the town.
      The shepherds had gone to see the child and had, indeed, gazed upon the very child which now lay in the stable. The angels had told the shepherds that this child was the Son of God. Indeed the child had been bathed in a radiant light that filled the stable where he lay. Just the sight of the child filled them with peace and joy which could not be surpassed. They had left the place of the Crippled Camel and returned to the hills. Their joy and excitement was such that they remained awake, 'round the fire talking of the wonders they had seen.
      They talked of the angels, of the angelic music, of the wondrous light in the skies. And they talked about the child, mostly they talked about the child. They remembered how the stable had been filled with a radiant light that had seemed to stream from the child. The light had filled them with peace and joy. They remembered the child's parents, a young mother and an older father. They remembered how the parents were filled with joy when they, the shepherds, had come to visit. They remembered how they had fallen to their knees and had worshipped the child. They remembered how the baby boy had actually seemed to gaze upon each of them as they knelt at his side.
      Finally they decided that they had to share this gospel, this good news, with the people of the town. And so once again the shepherds left the hills and headed for Bethlehem.
      Rachel, the wife of old Jacob bar Jonah who was the owner of the Crippled Camel Inn, rose with the sun as she did every day. She d to give thanks to God for the goodness of the day and then went out to the stable. There she had left a young woman and her husband. The woman had been in labor and her son had been born in the early morning hours.
      Rachel prepared some food for the couple and went to the stable to see how they were. When she arrived she saw that they were awake and the mother was nursing the child. Rachel came in to the place and looked upon the mother and child. The mother, whose name was Mary, looked up at Rachel and smiled. As she smiled the room seemed to be filled with a light that brought peace and happiness to Rachel.
      She knelt and looked at the baby and smiled in return. "What is his name?" she asked. "We shall call him Jesus" Mary replied. As Mary spoke the name "Jesus" Rachel bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "Jesus", she said. "An excellent name. May he live a long and prosperous life." Joseph, the child's father, smiled and looked on.
      Rachel gave them the food that she had prepared for them. The three of them spoke quietly for a few moments while Joseph and Mary ate their first meal of the day. "I'll see if I can't get my husband to give you a room in the inn itself. You can't keep this child here, in these conditions."
      "Thank you for your concern, but we are fine right here. We are comfortable and warm. And look how the sun shines through the door to light the room. You need not bother. We'll stay where we are." Said Mary.
      As they spoke the room suddenly became darker. The three looked up and saw a figure standing in the doorway. As they watched the man moved into the room from the shadows to the light. It was Jacob bar Jonah, himself. As he approached they saw that he was carrying something bulky.
      "I thought you might need these things," he said, as he approached them. When he saw Mary he knelt and looked at the child Jesus. "A beautiful boy! How fortunate you are. A fine lad. What will he do when he grows to be a man?"
      "He'll be a carpenter," was Joseph's reply. "Yes, he'll do the work of his father." Jacob smiled, though he did not understand Joseph's hidden meaning, though Mary did, for she smiled broadly at her husband and then at the rest. "And what is his name?" Jacob asked.
      When Mary said "Jesus" Jacob bowed his head as he knelt there. He was unaware that he did it, but indeed he did , in his own way, to worship the newborn child. It would be later said that at the name of "Jesus every head should bow and every knee be bent." In the first hours of his life this was already taking place.
      As they knelt another shadow covered the door. "Where is he? Where is the child I have heard about? I have come to see him." An old man entered the room, which was becoming quite crowded by now and came to stand at the side of the mother and child. "The Lord God told me in a dream. This very night the Lord spoke into my ear and told me to come to this place to see his child, the Son of God! He is here for I know that my redeemer lives. Now I can live in peace for I have seen the face of the Lord!"
      And so it began. Children are born every day, and in those times it was not that unusual an event to be born in a stable. But this time it was different. It was different because it was the Son of God who was born in a stable.
      But would it not be more fitting that the Son of God be born in a fancy place, and not among cattle? Some might think so, but God in his infinite wisdom knew that in order to bring his message of peace, hope, joy and love to all people could not bring it as from on high. The priests in the temple were not able to do that now.
      God loved the common people and chose, instead, to bring the message to the people through a common person. Indeed Jesus would grow to become a carpenter. His hands would be callused and rough from working wood. He would work for his living and would have a strong back. He would understand what it meant to be poor. He would be close to the people.
      God would never allow Jesus to stand above people, to look down upon them as though he was superior to them. Instead He chose Jesus to stand head and shoulders with the rest of humanity, to look them in the eye as he brought the good news to them.
      Yes, it had begun. The shepherds had come from the hills and had spread the word throughout the town of Bethlehem about the wondrous event they had witnessed the previous evening. They told of the angels and they told of the child. They told all they met of the peace and joy that they had experienced. And they told all they met where they too could find this peace. And so the people came.
      It was never a crowd, and most never even entered the stable, but stood outside quietly talking among themselves. Those who dared enter came out filled with joy and smiled upon all those they met. All spoke of God and of the beautiful child. Some came to worship the king, others to see a much talked about event. Some just came to satisfy their curiosity. All left the place different people than when they had arrived. And all were touched in some way by the hand of God.
      As they days passed the wonder died down, but by some it was never forgotten.
      And because they did not forget; the story has come down to us to be remembered and retold, again and again. The story of the birth of the Christ Child, Jesus, the Son of God, the same old story. It is a story that we love to hear, over and over, because it speaks to us of truth and beauty. It speaks to us of promise and of love. It speaks to us of joy. The joy that is God's as we celebrate this day. The joy that we all have as we celebrate this day.
      Joy to the world, for the Lord has indeed come! Let earth receive her king!

Afterword

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Table of Contents

Forward

One More Road To Follow

At The Crippled Camel

Afterword