Christmas Eve Candlelight service
Saturday, December 24, 2016
The following narrative is based on scriptures from Matthew 1 and Luke 1 & 2 and from On this Holy Night by Max Lucado.
I did this as a first person monologue and my daughter helped me out by playing Mary. Please feel free to use it as is or add to it. No copyright issues with me.
My name is Joseph and I want to tell you my story tonight. I am a carpenter in the village of Nazareth. My father was a carpenter as was his father before him. I guess it runs in our family. If you go back far enough in our family tree I have ties to the great King David. I would have liked to live in that time. Prosperity! Overall, life here in Nazareth is good. I am betrothed to Mary. Our families have known each other for generations. Mary is so beautiful. I think our fathers have had this in mind since we were little. I approached Mary’s father and told him I would like her to be my wife. He gladly agreed, I paid him the bride price and things were all set.
Mary was now my betrothed. I have prepared a place for us. I can’t wait for the marriage day and then for us to begin our lives together. I think she will be a great mother. A son, yes, that will be great. I will teach him how to be a carpenter. I will teach him about God. God has been so faithful. While I may not be rich I have plenty. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for my life, everything is perfect.
Enter Mary
Ah here is my Mary. I will let her tell you about herself. I will be right back
Mary’s story read Luke 1:26-38
Yes, my name is Mary. I am betrothed to Joseph. He is so excited for us to be married. I have some news for him though and I’m not quite sure how he will react to it. Both of us worship the great God, Jehoveh. Joseph studied in the temple and I have heard the stories about how God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. We have heard about all the prophets and the kings. We have not always been a faithful people but God always has been.
And so God has been silent for so long now, over 400 years. Women like me over the years have prayed that they would be chosen to be the mother of the promised Messiah. My prayer was answered, the prayers of a nation have been answered. I have been chosen. I will be the mother of the Messiah. An angel appeared to me and told me. I am pregnant.
Except that Joseph is not the father and we are not yet married. The angel told me that I would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph is a great and devoted man but this just might be too much for him to take.
Sing – Mary Did You Know
Joseph Matthew 1:18-25
Well, my story has taken a turn that I did not expect. As I guess Mary told you she had some pretty big news to tell me. I was not ready for that. I was so excited for our wedding and lives together. I really was expecting any day to get the nod from my father to go get Mary and bring her home to be my bride. I wasn’t sure what was so important that Mary needed to talk to me. She knows that I really can’t tell her when the wedding is because I’m not even sure. I thought maybe she had gotten into a fight with one of her bridesmaids or something.
Well it turned out to be much bigger than that. Mary was pregnant. Talk about a punch to the gut. What! How in the world could she do that?!? I thought that she was excited to be with me. This was something that had been planned. This was no surprise to her. I thought she was looking forward to starting a life and family with me and then she hits me that she was pregnant.
She didn’t say anything else at first. She let it soak in because I guess she knew that I would not be expecting to hear that. After the initial shock wore off I was furious. “Who did this to you?” Did someone force themselves on you? Tell me who it is and I will go take care of business. She didn’t respond right away. “What do you mean, was this something that you sought out? How could you do this to me?”
What are people going to think? I was so mad. I saw the tears start to leak from Mary’s eyes. Oh man as upset as I was, I was hurting her and making her cry. Well, maybe she deserved it. I calmed down a bit and asked her again in a controlled tone, “Who’s baby is it?”
With tears streaming down her face she looked at me and told me that it was God’s baby? Before I could interject she stopped me and said, “Just listen. An angel came to me. He told me that I had found favor with God. He told me that I was going to have a child and that it would be called the Son of the Most High. He told me that the Holy Spirit would come on me and overshadow me and that I would become pregnant with a son and that his name should be Jesus, Yeshua. This is to promised one the prophecies talked about. I will am pregnant with Son of God. He told me that my aunt Elizabeth is pregnant. Joseph, you know Zechariah and Elizabeth. They are way past the age where that is possible. You see this is God’s plan. I prayed for this but I could never have imagined it would be this way.”
“Joseph, he will need a father here on earth. Joseph I still want us to be married. I see you and the way you worship God. You can teach our son, God’s son. Joseph, please don’t leave me. Please believe me.”
I didn’t know what to think. It all sounded too crazy. Was she really pregnant? Was she just making this all up to keep me around? God’s son, the Messiah? She just sobbed at me. What was I to do? I told her that I would need to think about things but not to expect much from me.
To be honest I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt for Mary. Even though I was hurt, I guess I still didn’t want to hurt her. I’m not a vindictive person by nature. Under the law I could have her stoned but….well……I guess that’s not me and the more I thought about things I decided that I would probably just divorce her quietly. She was going to have a hard enough time by herself, I didn’t need to add to her misery. This was her problem though. I will save whatever is left of my dignity and just divorce her quietly.
Well, that is what I was thinking when I went to sleep. Do you ever dream? I dream. I dream sometimes of making the most exquisite furniture. Sometimes I dream and I am running a race against my friends and I win. Sometimes I remember parts of my dreams and some not. Well, this night I had quite the dream that I will never forget.
I’m guessing that the same angel that Mary talked about decided to pay me a visit as well. He came to me in my dream and it was as real as could be. The angel confirmed what Mary had told me. The angel told me to take her as my wife. The angel said that this baby would save people from their sins and his name was to be Jesus, Yeshua. I awoke in a cold sweat. I looked around for the angel. There was no one there. Just me and my breathing. I was to take her as my wife. This went against everything that was right but who was I to argue with an angel of the Lord. Afterall, he had given me pretty much the same message that he had given Mary.
I would raise this boy like me own. Mary would need me to protect her because people are going to talk. I would go and tell her that I would still take her as mine. I would answer God’s call and protect her and the baby.
Song: Away in a Manger
Luke 2:1-20
Here we are in Bethlehem. It was not my idea to travel here. Stupid Caesar Augustus. This is not how I thought things would go! We were having God’s child, the Messiah. Mary is in labor. I don’t know what I expected really. Not this though. I thought we’d be surrounded by our family. They had been somewhat supportive. I had told my father about my dream. I’m not sure he really believed me but he supported me when I told him I still wanted Mary as my wife.
I guess I thought it would be perfect. God’s son should be born surrounded by people that care. This should have taken place in Nazareth and if not there then in Jerusalem. Not here in Bethlehem. I knew the time was getting close for Mary. I was hoping that she would be able to make the five day journey here to Bethlehem for that dumb census. Her being pregnant slowed us down. I had waited as long as I could hoping she would have the baby before we left. Finally, we had to go. It took us longer than I thought and by the time we got here to Bethlehem all the places to stay were full. Everybody was full with all of their families in town to be counted.
I finally found one that said we could stay in their stable. He was nice enough to move the animals around and make some room for us and put down some fresh bedding. He wasn’t sure when his family would be leaving but at least it gave us somewhere for the night and Mary needed to rest. I could tell she was very uncomfortable. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible and I feel asleep. I awake to Mary crying out in pain, she was in labor.
I didn’t know what to do. I had made a small fire earlier and had put some water on to warm up. This was going to be for Mary just to bring her relief. This isn’t the way it was supposed to be. I was failing her. No one to help her. The only blanket I had was the one off of the donkey, no bed, no house just a smelly noisy stable. “GOD THIS IN NOT THE WAY MY SON SHOULD BE BORN!”
Forgive me Lord, this is your son, I’m sorry, it is so hard for me. Why here God, why a stable? Any minute now Mary will give birth. Not to my child but to the Messiah. That is what the angel told us. But this all seems so wrong.
I’m unaccustomed to such strangeness God. I’m a carpenter. I make things fit. I square off the edges. I follow the plumb line. I measure twice before I cut once. I like to know the plan.
This time I am not the builder am I? This time I am just one of your tools, a hammer in your grip, a nail between your fingers. This is your project not mine. Forgive me Lord. None of this has been easy, I guess why would this be any different. Is this what I should expect from here on out? I suppose his life will be full of hardship and yet he will save us. I think the time has arrived!
Song: Oh What a Glorious Night
It was quite a night. Baby Jesus was perfect. He was beautiful. The most perfect thing I have ever seen. I had taken an extra blanket and had ripped it in strips of cloth and wrapped up Jesus in them. Mary held him so tight. Then I took him from her. The innkeepers wife had come out to help Mary through the birth. She was helping Mary clean up. It was just me and God’s son. I started to tremble with that realization so I put him into the manger that had fresh clean straw in it. I wanted to shout out the good news but there was no one to share it with and about that quick a group of shepherds showed up. I thought maybe they were looking for a place to put their sheep for the night but they were looking for Jesus. They were talking all at once but it was about angels and God’s son. I knew exactly! It was all so crazy.
So how about you this Christmas? Has God ever asked you to do something that seemed a little crazy? Have you ever doubted that God knew what he was doing? You know I must admit I don’t always get it. I know that people get sick and sometimes are affected for life. People die, sometimes when they are old but sometimes when they are young and it seems too young to die. You would think that if you follow God everything would be okay. Well, Mary and I followed God and I’ll tell you it was anything but easy. I guess God needed me for part of his plan and well I just trusted that God was God. It wasn’t easy but God used me to help raise his son and Jesus would go on to change the world.
God still looks for people like Mary and I today. Ordinary people going through their lives. He uses them to make a difference in his world. He calls you to follow his Son Jesus. More than once I asked God, “Are you still with me?” Just like that night in Bethlehem the answer came, “Yes, Yes Joseph. I’m with you.”
God assures you through that little baby he grew to give his life for you and me. Yes, your sins are forgiven through Christ’s shed blood. Yes, your name is written in heaven. Yes, death has been defeated. Yes, God has entered your world. He is Immanuel, God is with us.
Song: Christmas Offering
