Audio Recording Sermon manuscript: There’s no two ways about it: The little Lord Jesus entered this world in an unusual way. It can be a little hard to visualize. Why was Mary taking this journey so late in her pregnancy? Why didn’t the people of Bethlehem have some compassion on a pregnant woman? How could anybody tolerate a baby being born in a barn? St. Luke the evangelist does not tell us these things that we might wonder about. So often the Scriptures simply say something, when we might want an explanation. There is a lot left untold. Suffice it to say that somehow the circumstances were such that Mary and Joseph were infallibly led to that stable on that night. God does this a lot—and not just to the famous people that we read about in the Bible. One avenue after another, one possibility after another, is eliminated until you find yourself in a particular situation. It makes me think of back home on the farm. When you wanted the sow to jump up into the farrowing crate you had to shut off every possible alternative. If there were an opening left anywhere, no matter how small, you could count on that sow going that way instead of where you wanted her to go. I doubt very much that Mary and Joseph left Nazareth with the intention of having a baby while in Bethlehem. Furthermore, I doubt even more that they intended to have that happen in a stable. But evidently the circumstances were such that this is where they ended up. Luke doesn’t tell us all the details of how that came about. And, in fact, the way that Luke goes about telling the story, he makes it seem as though where they happened to be was something of an afterthought. He says, “And so it was that while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” The main thing is the birth of the baby. It was her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths. Oh, and by the way, she laid him in a manger, a trough, because there wasn’t room for them in the inn. I suspect that this is just the way Mary talked about this too. Mary and Joseph were pious people. She took what came to her with equanimity. Some women would have harangued every passerby with how they had to be in a barn for the birth of the baby. Mary and Joseph weren’t looking for sympathy. The main thing was that God had chosen her to be the mother of God. And so she was. This is also what is important for us as Christians. If Jesus is not God, then this is just a quaint story. But if he is God, then it is the beginning of God’s rescue mission. This is the true significance of this festival. At Christmas we see the beginning of God’s salvation of mankind. The way that he does it is by joining together with us, by making it so that we and God hold all things in common, including even our flesh and blood. Having something in common with somebody else is always a good thing. Our dearest friends are the ones with whom we hold things in common. Friends usually share the same outlook, the same economic class, the same goals and ambitions. Holding things in common with somebody means that you have a lot to talk about. This is perhaps the first thing we think of when we speak of having something in common with someone. But there are other ways that you can have something in common with someone else. You can, for example, have things in common with someone so that they do not feel the need to ask in order to make use of what belongs to you. Mi casa, su casa. This also is a very pleasurable thing. If you feel comfortable at a friend’s house, so that you could raid their fridge or stretch out on their couch, then that’s a special relationship. Such friends are like family, where things are held in common. This is something that is very nice about being at home. Uou hold all things in common with your family. You don’t need permission to do whatever it is that you m