Little Jesus, Wast Thou Shy?

Text:  Luke 2:1-20

Theme:  “Little Jesus, Wast Thou Shy?”

Feast of the Nativity

Christmas Eve

Dec. 24, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

A very merry Christmas to each of you!  It is, itself, a gift to share the feast of the nativity of our Lord with one another. 

In 1887, a magazine editor in London, England received a package.  It contained an essay and a collection of poems.  The author, in a note to the editor, wanted the contents to be inspected.  He actually thought they were worthless and even included a return envelope for the presumed rejection letter.  The author had tried, three times, to become a medical doctor like his father, but he failed.  He decided to become a writer, but somewhere along the way he became addicted to opium.

Among his submissions was a short poem entitled “Little Jesus”.  Herewith a short excerpt:

Little Jesus, was Thou shy

Once, and just as small as I?

And what did it feel like to be

Out of heaven, and just like me?

Didst Thou sometimes think of there,

And ask where all the angels were?

I should think that I would cry

For my house all made of sky… .

And Thou know’st I cannot pray

To Thee in my father’s way –

When Thou was so little, say,

Couldn’t Thou talk Thy Father’s way?—

So, as a little child, come down

And hear a child’s tongue like Thy own;

Take me by the hand and walk,

And listen to my baby-talk.

To Thy Father show my prayer

(He will look, Thou art so fair),

And say, “O Father; I Thy Son,

Bring the prayer of a little one.”

And He will smile, that childrens’ tongue

Hast not changed since Thou was young!

Tonight, this holy night, we are young at heart; we are children.  The Scriptures declare that “A little child shall lead them.”  Christ Himself declared:  “He who does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter in to it.”  It’s hard to think of a better night to receive that kingdom. 

Little children – be they shy or gregarious – live only by what they are given.  That is, they live by faith.  When the very grown-up Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, heard from an angel that his wife, Elizabeth, would give to the birth to the forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist, he asked:  “How will I know?”  He wasn’t sure.  When Mary, the mother of our Lord, was told that she would give birth to the Son of the most high God, she asked:  “How can this be?”  She did not doubt; she trusted what the angel said.  She was only curious about the specifics.

We gather tonight to hear again the herald angel’s message:  “Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”  We greet the news a little bit like Zechariah and a little bit like Mary.  We welcome it with doubt and faith.  There is doubt:  Is it really true?  It happened so long ago – if it even happened at all.  And there is faith:  “Lord, I celebrate your birth; I just wish I knew how it all will work out for me.”

Is it not best to receive Christmas for all the gift that it is – in the Gospel you have heard and in the feast you are about to partake of – like a child, as a little one who lives only by what is given, as a youngster with awe and wonder in the eyes? It is the joy and challenge of this feast of the nativity:  to marvel that God became a human being, to let your spirit engage in the playfulness of a child.

Think of it:  to be excited, from the tip of your toes to the crown of your head, that God became a child!  And, please God, let us stick with this truth whatever our actual age may be.  God became human.  That means the almighty knows what it’s like to be one of us – in our highest joys and our deepest sorrows, in our lives and in our death.

No need, tonight, to become too adult-like – adult in the sense of glorifying human reason.  Reason tries to find god or gods in all kinds of places – just not down in a lowly manger bed.  But Martin Luther, with the faith of a child declared, “Bend yourself down to this place.  There you will find that boy given for you who is your Creator lying in a manger.  I will stay with that boy as he sucks, is washed, and dies…There is no joy but in this boy.  Take him away and you face the Majesty that terrifies.  I know of no God but this one in the manger.”

Little Jesus, was Thou shy

Once and just so small as I?

Away in a manger – no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head.

The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

Be near me, Lord Jesus.

I ask Thee to stay close by me forever,

And love me I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,

And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.

And God will smile that our childrens’ tongues have not changed since Christ was young.

Merry Christmas!

Amen.