This time it is much less a story about a sermon and is instead a story.
I present to you, Malik's Tale.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
Malik’s Tale
It was a dark and stormy night, with absolutely no clouds in the sky, storms come in all forms, shapes and sizes, as you will see. My name is Malik and it is my duty to record what I have seen and what I know. I do this because it is my lot in afterlife so to speak. When I walked the land of the living I thought mostly, alright, only of myself and how each situation I faced could be used to further my fortune, my prestige, and my enjoyment. I should add that was true until I met an unusual man, some would call him a prophet, some a madman, some a carpenter, and some the Son of God, I fall into the latter category. I encountered him one day as I was walking, it would be my last walk, but I did not know this when I set out.
I walked the road twice each day, one way to work, one way to home. It was, as all roads were, dangerous, but I was a man of means and power and had no fear of the dangers that walked the road with me, in other words I was short-sighted. Each day as I walked the road home I would replay the day, each transaction, each acquisition, each sale, and that day had been a good day so I was engrossed in my thoughts and my rising wealth, which caused me to completely miss the three men that walked toward me that evening. They were upon me in seconds, demanding my purse and taking it along with my pain and my blood. I lay there on the ground for minutes or hours, I do not know, time passed as it does in fits and bursts and then my eyes opened and I saw his face.
My child, how can I help?
I lay there on the ground, wounded, near death, and he asked me that? I was speechless at first, but then the words came to me as if from somewhere else.
Save me! Please, save me!
For the moment or forever?
What kind of question was that? What kind of madman asks that question? Who would take a moment when you could have forever? Forever safe from harm, forever free from pain, forever. Of course in my pain I didn’t really understand what he meant, the meaning of his words so much deeper and greater then I could ever truly grasp.
Be healed my son.
My pain was gone, and so was I.
I have heard many people ask many others what death is like, and having experienced it I can barely explain it. It is similar to a short nap, you are in one place when you close your eyes, another when you open them, and the new far outstrips the old. I saw his face again on the other side and he explained the gift he had given to me, and begged a favor in return. While my business was in acquisitions and sales I was always able to turn a phrase and put words to paper and so he asked me to tell the beginning of his story.
You may wonder why? After all, there exists the so-called birth narratives of Matthew and Luke, but come on Matthew tells the story in but a few paragraphs, Luke in a few more, the story is so much more expansive and expressive than that. You may next ask how I could tell this story, I did not encounter the Godson until we were both men, I older than he, but here on the other side time is not exactly how you understand it. Here you can look into the world and see what is and has been and will be and could be as if through a prism or kaleidoscope, the past, present, future twirling together in a forever dance. And so…
It was a dark and stormy night, with absolutely no clouds in the sky, storms come in all forms shapes and sizes, as you will see. The first storm came to Mary in the form of an Angel that told her that her pregnancy would reshape the world. I cannot imagine what her internal thoughts must have been, but she responded in humility and grace. The second storm came to Joseph, an upright man who was willing to secretly divorce his love rather than risk her public ridicule and punishment. His storm also came in the form of an angel that gave him the opportunity to raise the almighty, a great responsibility. Again, I cannot imagine what his internal thoughts must have been, but he responded in obedience and strength. One parent, humility and grace, another obedience and strength, Jesus was God’s son but he also had earthly parents that filled him with the attributes he would need.
The third storm came in a dwelling of magnificence that many would call a palace to a man named Nathaniel. His story you do not know, so we will begin there.
Nathaniel was a lowly tax collector with one of the most important bright ideas of all time. The Roman empire was a growing empire and yet the money that was being brought in from the various outlaying regions was not as sufficient as it seemed they should be. There was a general belief that the tax collectors in these regions were being untruthful about how much money they were collecting in regards to how many people were living in their areas. Nathaniel’s superiors were unsure what to do about it when he raised his hand and gave his thought.
What if we officially count them?
Count who?
The people living in each region. We could conduct a census in each region, and then we would know exactly how many people there were, if we knew how many people we would know how much money the various local tax-collectors should be bringing to us.
But how would we be able to sort which people were from which area?
What if we sent out a decree that each family should return to their ancestral hometown, then we could find out how many there are, where they come from and where they currently reside.
Nathaniel’s supervisors were impressed with his thought and passed it on up the line until an official
decree went out from Caesar Augustus himself.
A tax-collector of little importance with a big idea that helped fulfill the prophecy of where the Messiah should be born, not in Nazareth where his family resided, but rather in the little town of Bethlehem where Joseph and his pregnant bride Mary would travel being as they were from the house of David, the king of old.
In another corner, on another side another storm was brewing. Titus was a minor angel, he wasn’t a herald, he wasn’t a warrior, he wasn’t a temple worker, he was what you might call an angel handyman, he stepped in where he was needed and when he wasn’t needed he was on star patrol. Star patrol is, as you may be able to guess, a group of angels that are in charge of the stars in the night sky. Titus, like Nathaniel was called upon by his superiors. Titus, unlike Nathaniel was told what to do, and while he didn’t understand it he knew what his duty was and he fulfilled it.
Titus glided across the night sky, just one more ‘shooting star’ to the eyes of anyone looking up. He arrived at sector 85 quadrant 34 star 579 put on his star-glasses and turned up the wattage as high as it could be set.
At the same exact moment three men who watched the sky at all times saw a star shine brighter than any other star in the night sky and spoke among themselves.
Caspar, a scholar from India, spoke first, “Do you see the star?”
Balthazar, a Babylonian scholar, “Of course, we are not blind.”
“What could it mean? It was definitely not that bright last night,” chimed in the Persian scholar Melchior.
“Last night, it wasn’t that bright five minutes ago Melchior.”
“There is no need for that tone Balthazar, I was merely remarking that it had changed.”
“And I was remarking upon its unusual change Melchior.”
“You two always have to argue about insignificant words, but your question does bear some thinking Melchior.”
“Wait, do you two remember that scroll I was telling you about, the Jewish one?”
“Yes Balthazar, I particularly remember you going on and on and on about it.”
“Well then Melchior, you probably remember me talking about how it said that a star would accompany the arrival of a new Jewish King that would unite his people once more for all time.”
“Do you think this could be that star?”
“It is possible Caspar, but we should do more research before we decide that to be the case.”
“To the archives, my friends, to the archives.”
The star gazers would indeed study the sky and the scrolls and come to the final conclusion that the star heralded the coming King, and after a while they would seek this newborn king out, bringing gifts for his family, gifts that would have eternal significance and practical significance as well.
Then there was John, the youngest of the shepherds that lay watching their flock by night. John and the rest of the shepherds had been working all day, watching the sheep as them rambled across the land. At times the shepherds led the sheep and at times it felt like the sheep were in charge. It has not been a hard day, but it has been a long one and John and his friends were tired. He watched the sun start to dip below the horizon and felt a distinct chill in the air and along with the chill came the fear. Night was when the distance between yourself and danger shortened. Thieves lurk behind boulders and wolves are on the hunt for the sheep under John’s care. Some of the sheep are being tended for their wool, others for their meat, and other for their purity to be used in the sacrifices in the temple and so while the day was calm during the night John and the other shepherds are on high alert, waiting, watching, preparing for danger.
The night began like every other night.
The sheep sure didn’t want to go anywhere today, did they?
No, not at all, they may be useful but boy they are dumb.
Shh, did you hear that?
Hear what?
Over there, beyond the fire, did you hear anything?
No, it was just your imagination.
John?
Yes?
You’re on first watch tonight.
Ok.
Several hours passed as John sat on the large flat rock and his friends slept among the edges of the herd. And then, from out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time came a brilliant light, and a being so magnificently different that it scared John to his bones and woke the other shepherds from their slumber.
Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.
And like that, the angel was gone and darkness and silence once again descended across the desert.
What should we do?
What do you mean John?
We have to go, we have to go to the city of David.
Bethlehem?
Yes, Bethlehem, its only about a four hour walk from here, if we get started now we will get there about first light.
John, we can’t go to Bethlehem, we have to guard the sheep.
The sheep, the sheep! Don’t you understand what just happened, what we just experienced, what we were just told?
No, as a matter of fact I don’t.
That was an angel and it told us that the Messiah was born this night.
Messiah’s aren’t born in Bethlehem. Messiah’s probably aren’t born at all, they probably come fully formed I would think.
Well I believed it, I’m going, who else is coming.
Two of John’s friends decided to join him, more to keep him safe on the journey then to see some newborn Messiah, and so they set off for Bethlehem. For four hours they walked in the darkness, John going on and on about what they would soon see, his friends randomly saying, “Yeah” but thinking that it would probably be a waste of an 8 hour round trip.
When they arrived in Bethlehem they searched stable after stable until they came to Jesus’ manger and they stood before him for but a moment when they fell to their knees and thanked God for allowing them access to this miracle.
Oh, I almost forgot about Michael. Nathaniel’s big idea affected Joseph, Mary and their Godson, but it affected other lives as well, well obviously in big and little ways it affected all lives, but I am not talking about the grand scheme, I am talking about local lives in the moment, like Michael.
You know about Michael, but you have never heard his name. You have probably looked at him as a minor player, perhaps even as a bad guy, but he was simply a man in charge with no room, save a stable.
In your current day and age when you are traveling somewhere you can call ahead or jump on your computer or phone to book a room, but this time was not your time. When you travel home you stay with family, but Joseph, who was quite a bit older than Mary had no family still living, at least not any with room to house them upon their arrival in Bethlehem, and so they traveled to the local inn.
Again in your current day and age anywhere you go you can find at least a handful of inns or as you usually call them motels and hotels, if one is full you go to the next, but more than likely they won’t ever be full, because there are a hundred rooms or more in each one, but again, this time was not your time. An inn in the time of Messiah was a house that people would rent out rooms to people when there were traditional celebrations, or in this case the odd census.
Michael, was the owner of one such house, and in his inn all his rooms were occupied. And while it was in his nature to want to help the couple, he had eyes and could see that Mary was very far along in her pregnancy, so he did what he could and offered them the use of his stable. They were appreciative of his gesture, after all the alternative was out under the stars on a blanket beside the donkey that Mary had been riding on for days, when that is your alternative a floor of hay with a thatch roof seems like a palace.
I leave you with one more tale, a tale closer to your time than to mine.
You’ve all seen a Christmas pageant, right. Well, let me tell you a story about one such performance.
Many years ago in a little country church a children’s pastor decided that for Christmas this year the kids in her program were going to put on a pageant, a retelling of the Christmas story, so she set about writing a simple play. Her kids were in grade school so she knew that it had to be easy to memorize and easy to act out.
So she wrote her play and handed out the parts, To Thomas and Emily, the two oldest kids she gave the roles of Mary and Joseph, the youngest kids she made shepherds, because they all spoke in unison, To Brad, Mike, and Chris, three boys in the third grade she gave the parts of the wise men.
To the thirds grade girls, she gave the parts of the angels. When almost everyone had been given roles a small hand peeked around the crowd, “What about me?”
“Well Jimmy, you are going to be our innkeeper, it is a small role, but you will have a line, can you do that for us.”
“Yeah, I think I can,” was the small boys reply.
Jimmy was small for his age, while he was in the second grade he still looked young enough to be in kindergarten, and the kids in school, and sadly enough, in church never forgot to remind him of such things. Jimmy was often shy and quiet, and mostly forgotten.
Every Wednesday for the next month the kids would practice their play. And Jimmy would get his line right every time, but there was something inside him that just didn’t feel right about it. Of course he knew the Christmas story, every year in church he would be told it, and his mom would read him the story as well. He knew what he had to say, and so he said it.
The night of the pageant came to the small country church, Max and Emma set out from the back of the church, walked down the aisle and stopped at the foot of the stairs, where a door was set up, they knocked on the door and Jimmy pulled it open.
“Please sir,” said Max/Joseph, “Is there any room; my wife is pregnant and about to give birth.”
Jimmy just stood there, silent. The children’s pastor from the side of the platform quietly, called his name, “Jimmy, Jimmy, it’s your line.” But still Jimmy just stood there, a tear forming in his eye. “Jimmy, Jimmy, tell them no.”
Finally, Jimmy spoke, “No, there is no room, but you can have mine.”
Every eye widened and every mouth dropped, and you could have heard a pin drop in that sanctuary, and then the children’s pastor burst out in applause, and so did the whole congregation, for they knew that while this isn’t what really happened it is what was supposed to happen. Jesus should have found room, as should we all.
Storms enter our lives and blow us off course, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Nathaniel’s storm steered Mary and Joseph from their home across the land of their ancestors to what would become the birth place of two kings. Michael’s action brought the family shelter in the midst of the storm of childbirth, gave the baby a place in this world, a lowly one, yes, but one that was safe from those on the outside who would do the small baby harm. Titus’s storm brightened the night sky and the minds of the star gazers, it brought gifts from afar to a new family that would soon be having their own Exodus, leaving the promised land and returning to the land of their people’s slavery. John let his storm allow him entrance into the greatest moment of all time, and brought all that he had, his worship, to the newborn baby king. And Jimmy, Jimmy changed the storm, allowing what was tossing him around to toss all those around him. To you my friends I say, let the storms come, those that come with strength and vigor and those that come quietly in a whisper, those that come from the mouths of angels, and those that come on a random Tuesday afternoon and when they come allow yourself to be used for that which is greater than you are. That is all that the Godson asks you to do.
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