Manager’s Tale
Christmas 2015
Rev. Adam T. Trambley
St. John’s, Sharon
and St. Jude’s, Hermitage
Archeologists recent
discovered an ancient scroll buried in a Bethlehem cave. Written on it were the following reflections
from about two thousand years ago…
Probably nobody will ever read this. It’s not like I’m an important Imperial
personage – just another Jewish guy trying to earn a living. But what happened the other night was so
incredible, I thought I better write it down for myself. Oh, yeah, my name is Clyde. I’m what you might call the manager for the
Davidson estate here in Bethlehem. The
Davidsons are one of the oldest, and wealthiest, families in this area. Someone
has to take care of their house and fields and animals, and the someone for all
that work is me.
Even before that night, the whole week was crazy -- Caesar
getting it into his head to have a census of the whole world. I don’t know how many people he counted, but
I counted a lot, let me tell you. All
the Davidsons coming back to Bethlehem from heaven only knows where in order to
be registered. Don’t get me wrong, we
have a big house, but that was a lot of people, and they all came to stay with
us. Where else could they stay? When you travel you stay with family. We aren’t a big city with fancy guest
houses. I guess the pub has a couple of
rooms in the back, but no respectable person would stay there. And Mr. Davidson, like most people in this
area, has a great gift for hospitality.
And let me tell you, there were some impressive family members coming
home. People on camels with jewel
encrusted harnesses, their wives with flowing silk scarves, children playing
with hand-carved olive wood Star Wars action figures. And I was responsible to see that beds got made
and meals got cooked and whatever else needed to be done got done.
I was pretty tired when Joseph showed up in the middle of
the night with his new, very pregnant wife.
He used to visit with his family before his first wife died, but I
hadn’t seen him in years. After a bumpy
donkey ride, his wife looked like she could give birth any minute. I didn’t really have a place to put them, and
even if I found an empty corner inside, someone giving birth would keep the
whole house awake all night. I was
pretty sure none of the prominent family members would want that.
I did the only thing I could think of. I led them back to the cave where the animals
slept during the night. It would be
warm, at least, and sort of private, if you don’t count the sheep. Then I ran to wake up the local midwives. They weren’t too happy with me when they
found out that I put the mommy-to-be on some straw next to the manger, but they
came. Of course, they needed water, and
our guests had used almost all of it, so I got to make a midnight water run.
(Actually, I’m glad it was dark since drawing water is really women’s work, but
the maids were already asleep, so off I went).
When I got back with the water, the midwives took it and
shooed me away. I figured I’d go start
preparing the day’s meals since I wasn’t getting any more sleep that
night. I was about an hour into grinding
up chick peas for hummus, when the midwives came in. They were incredibly excited. They started asking me all these
questions. “Why didn’t I tell them the
child was special?” “Where are the
parents from?” “Who are these
people?” Apparently the baby, who was
named Jesus, was unlike any other baby they had ever delivered. I don’t know much about childbirth, not
having been to any except my own, but the midwives said the birth was the
smoothest they’d ever witnessed, like the baby was doing everything possible to
make his mom comfortable during the whole birth. And they didn’t think his mom was in any pain
at all. Then the baby reached out for
everyone to hold him – both midwives, his mother, and his father – almost like
he was saying “Hi” and giving everyone a hug.
Then the baby nursed and fell right asleep. The mom laid Jesus down in the manger that
they had cleaned out, and then went to sleep herself.
When the midwives left, I wasn’t really sure what to think,
but I didn’t have long to ponder it because then the shepherds showed up. Now we have some trouble with shepherds. We have a few fields for our animals near the
house, but it isn’t open grazing for everyone in town if you catch my
drift. Everyone knows shepherds are
untrustworthy, and we have some nice things at the house, so we keep them
away. On that kind of night, they should
have all been out with their flocks anyway, so to see them without sheep coming
toward our place was pretty strange. I
went out to meet them and told them they had to leave our property. They just laughed, and there were about a
dozen of them, so I wasn’t feeling too comfortable at first. Then I realized they weren’t laughing a
scornful laugh at me, but a joyful laugh.
One of them said, “I know you don’t like us, but we’re on a mission from
God.” Then another one said, “Don’t be
dramatic. But we were sent by
angels. They told us to come to
Bethlehem, the City of David, and greet the Messiah, the Lord.” This whole claim was patently ridiculous, but
when I looked at the shepherds, it was clear that they believed what they were
saying, and that something had really happened to them. They were different – more serious, while
also being more sparkling. They just
might have seen an angel.
“OK,” I said. “Let me
go wake up Mr. Davidson, and he’ll know which of our important guests is the
person you are looking for.” Then the
shepherds laughed again. One said, “The
Messiah isn’t some old person asleep in your fancy house. The Messiah is a newborn baby, wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
I assume your manger is in the cave with the animals?” And with that he pointed to where Jesus had
just been born and they all started walking there. I followed them. I didn’t know what else to do. I felt some responsibility for this child
born that night, and I couldn’t leave the family alone with all those
shepherds.
As soon as they saw the baby lying in the manger, they
started jumping around and whooping and hollering. I think they were praising God, but in all
honesty it was a bit exuberant for my tastes.
One was yelling, “Thanks be to God”, and another “What they angel said
is true,” a two of them in the corner were literally rolling on the floor
laughing. I thought that was just an
expression, but these shepherds were so overcome that they couldn’t stand up. There were laughing huge, loud laughs, with
tears rolling down their cheeks, and when one would catch his breath, he would
look at the baby or at the other one, and start laughing again. This brouhaha all lasted a good five minutes,
and the baby slept peacefully through all of it.
Once people settled down, one of the shepherds, who seemed a
little older than the others, went up to the parents and told them what had
happened. How an angel surrounded by
light had appeared to them and told them that he had good news of great joy for
all people. How they should go to Bethlehem
and find the baby lying in the manger who would be the Messiah, the Lord. Then, apparently, a whole host of angels
appeared, lighting up the entire sky, and they to sing. Then all the shepherds in the cave with us
turned to the baby, and they began to sing.
They said afterwards they couldn’t sing it nearly as well as the angels
did, but I’ve never heard any music so beautiful in my life. The baby woke up as they were singing, and he
just sort of smiled, and then went back to sleep. After the shepherds sang, they gave the
baby’s mother some wool and said they wanted her to use it for the baby’s first
sweater. Then they left, praising God
and laughing and singing as they walked home.
In the morning, Mr. Davidson told people to move around so
that Joseph’s family could have some space, and they stayed around for a
while. I think the shepherds and the
midwives were right. There was something
special about that little Jesus. When he
was in the room, things were just more peaceful, somehow. I always felt like I could just be a better
person, more patient and gentle, after I helped his family with something and
got to hold him a minute. I’m not sure
what the shepherds meant when they said he was the Messiah, but I hope that’s
what he is when he grows up. He’d
probably make a good one.
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