Where is your Bethlehem?

As a small child, I was just beginning to understand the difference between a place called Bethlehem and a competing narrative that talked about a place called the North Pole.  I remember that the city of Bethlehem was a pretty important part of my family’s Christmas story. For many of you, this was probably true of your family too, but for more and more people today, the city of Bethlehem is not a part of the prevailing narrative in the home at Christmas time.  

As I recall the story of Bethlehem and baby Jesus, I can see in my mind’s eye, the slow, lumbering gait of the donkey that carried a pregnant Mary uphill and down. I can see the dust of scuffling feet, blowing in the dry and arid breeze across the land as they continued their journey to this small city called Bethlehem.  The journey must have been particularly difficult for Mary. I can imagine that as they walked, Joseph would still be pondering the meaning of Mary’s pregnancy and likely frustrated that he had to make the trip at all.

Once again, we find ourselves on a journey to Bethlehem – the place where God finds hope in a dark and breezy shed. Here in a crowded village on the edge of the city where poor shepherds watch over the sheep and the silence of the night breaks forth with a crescendo of heavenly music, startling the sleepy shepherds. Here, in a breezy shed on the edge of a crowded village, God’s gift of love breaks open our hardened hearts and brings to us a new message of hope and possibility that changes lives.

  

The story that  I remember was about Mary and Joseph who were bound together by the mystery of an unplanned pregnancy. Here are two people who because of their circumstance trusted God in ways they didn’t before. The shepherds, alarmed by a chorus of angels are invited to go and see the child, the one born in the night in Bethlehem town.  When they arrive, they know that there is something different about this place – this is Holy ground and this one will bless the nations of the world. After they worshiped him, they went with haste to tell others about the One born in Bethlehem – the one who changes lives forever. 

Mary and Joseph, the shepherds or the wise men are changed by their visit to Bethlehem and so can we.  Each of us have our Bethlehem in our lives -- a place, a set of circumstances, or an event that changes us. It is that moment in our life when we see clearly, perhaps for the first time, what we must do and set out on a journey that brings us to another place, a place where God touches us and our lives are changed forever. 

Where will your journey take you this Christmas?  Where do your hopes and dreams intersect with God’s hopes and dreams? This Christmas story invites all of us to reflect upon the competing narratives of our culture at this time of year. What baggage or burdens do you bring to Bethlehem this year? Can you hear the music of the night that beckons you to a new place to ‘come and see’? When you get to your new Bethlehem, will you stand in awe and wonder in this moment or will you run into the darkness, fearful and cynical about God’s amazing love? What’s on your mind as you journey to Bethlehem? The Christmas story is an invitation to set out on a journey to find the living God that comes to us in different ways, different places, and under different circumstances. Where will your journey to Bethlehem lead you this Christmas? Safe travels, my friends and may you find the grace of God wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.