In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see -- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

How beautiful is the nativity story and how precious to us. In fact, the story has become so precious to us that we sometimes forget its importance and what it can and should mean to us. This is the story of the beginning of a saving work of God that has been pivotal in human history and in the lives of many people. God was doing something to change the course of human life and history. But God chose to do his work in ways that call for the participation of the people involved. Otherwise it would not have been real. God could have waved his hand and made everything good. But that is not the kind of goodness that God wants for us. God wants for us the kind of goodness with which God is good and that requires a choice. That requires participation. It required the participation of the people involved in the story. And it requires our participation too.

The story of the birth of Jesus actually started nine months before the night described in our reading for tonight. It started one day when a young teenage girl from a poor family, going about her daily chores, went down to the village well to draw water for her family. As people in her culture evaluated things, there could hardly have been a less significant person. On the way, she met a stranger and he spoke to her, saying: "Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). Mary was bewildered by this. The stranger explained that God was about to do the saving work for which the people of Israel had been hoping for centuries. There was to be a role in that work for Mary. She was to bear the child who would be the messiah. She could hardly have imagined what all that would require of her. But she must have known it would require the commitment of her whole life. She had a decision to make. She could have dropped her water jar and run home. But instead she chose to respond in faith and in obedience to the purpose of God. She said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). And so the story began (Luke 1:26-38).

There would be others who would make decisions to be participants in the story: a young carpenter who was engaged to Mary, the people of a little village, a group of shepherds. Down through the years many have been called to participate in the saving work of God. They all had decisions to make. And we are called to participate in the saving work of God. We have decisions to make as well. Let's talk about the ways in which we are called to participate in the saving work of God and about the decisions we make.

We who live on this side of the nativity are able to know the whole story of the life that began in Bethlehem. We are able to know how it ended, with the one who represented God to us dying upon a cross to show us how great and unconditional God's love is for us. The meaning is there for us. Our guilt, brokenness, and unworthiness have been set aside and we have been freely given the status of beloved children of God. Some of us have grown up knowing ourselves to be beloved children of God. Others of us have to come to that discovery struggling through the turmoil of painfully neglected or broken lives. And maybe some of us have not yet come to that discovery. Some of us who have always heard that we are the beloved children of God have yet to really take in all that can mean.

This is where it must start for each of us. It starts with your willingness for God's saving work to be done in your own lives. And that begins with discovering all that it can mean to know that God loves you and has chosen you as one of God's beloved children. That may come to you in one magnificent realization or in a gradually unfolding awareness. However it comes, when you hear the news that you are a chosen child of God, you must make a decision. Will you choose to accept that as your identity and let it be who you are? Will you be able to say, "Let it be with me according to your word"?

That is only the beginning. God's saving work continues to go on in your life. Every day of your life God comes to meet you through your experiences. God is constantly interacting with you, whether you know it or not. God is working to reshape your life. What is it that God is trying to do in your life? God is trying to teach you to love. God is trying to teach you to love as God loves. Lots of us have a hard time understanding what that means. Our culture has such a distorted understanding of love that the word is almost useless. But the reality is essential. In the life of Jesus, God has shown us what real love is. In fact, in the whole biblical saga God has shown us what real love is. Love is a commitment of life to life that is freely and joyfully made. It is being committed to fullness of life for yourself, and for others, and for the whole creation. It is the willingness to do all you can to make that fullness of life possible. That is the way in which God loves. That is the way in which God wants you to love. That is not an easy thing to do. Many of us do not have it within ourselves to love in that way. We must be realistic about that. If we let love shape our lives instead of some of the things that are shaping them now, we may find ourselves living very different lives. But if we let our lives be reshaped day by day through our interactions with the God who is at work in our lives, God will love us into the ability to love. Are you willing for that to happen to you? Are you willing to say, "Let it be with me according to your word"?

But God's love is not just for us. It is for the whole world. A healthy love may begin with love for yourself, but it cannot stop there. By its very nature, real love is something that grows. It enlarges its circle and includes more and more people. And that is part of God's plan for the salvation of the world. Our world is full of hurt, lonely, and broken people who need to be loved into wholeness. Some of the people are very near to you, sitting on the same pew with you, maybe living at your house with you. Many others are within your reach. Some of them are the troublesome people you keep hoping you don't have to meet. Some of them are the people you see on the streets who seem to have trashed out their lives. Some of them may even be people you have identified as your enemies. Some are close at hand. Some live on the other side of the world. But God loves them all. God wants to love them into wholeness. God wants to work through you to reach out to those people in love. That is an important part of the way in which God does the saving work in the world. God calls you to participate in it. Are you willing to say, "Let it be with me according to your word"?

There is a special way in which God needs for us to express our love, and it seems to be much more difficult for many of us than it should be. God needs for us to speak to others about the love of God for them and about the new possibility God has for their lives. There are people within your circle of relationships who need someone to talk to them about this story we are sharing. It really is not hard to do. Just say something to those who are near to you about the faith that has become important to you and see if they want to talk about it. If they don't want to talk about it, just offer to talk about it some other time if they would like. If they do want to talk about it, just share what is real to you in the simplest and most loving way you can. It is something that really needs to happen, and God needs for you to do it. Are you willing to say, "Let it be with me according to your word"?

Not everything that God calls us to do is easy. There are things that need to be changed in our world, big things, things that are causing massive amounts of human suffering, things that could even threaten the future of the human race. Those things will not be changed unless people who are committed to justice and well-being for all will wade into the conflicted situations of human life and history and do what needs to be done to make things different. Watch the local and world news on your television and ask yourself, "What does God really want to do as a saving work in those situations?" What does love call you to do?

You may find yourself called to do something very costly and demanding. A number of years ago when violent political oppression was rampant in some Latin American countries, many refugees came north into this country to seek refuge and to save their lives. Even though they were present in this country illegally, many churches felt compelled to give the people refuge. A lay leader of one of the churches had a hard time dealing with that. He was an attorney and a former law enforcement officer. So far as he was concerned, anything that was illegal was just plain wrong. He decided to investigate. Before he had finished his investigation, he found that the historical realities of the situation challenged his deeply held belief. Eventually he felt called by God to become active in support of the cause of the refugees. God can call us to do unexpected things.

Can you handle being called by God into involvement in something that would be costly and difficult? Are you able to say, "Let it be with me according to your word"?

We have read the precious story of the beginning of God's greatest saving work. It is something that God did. God called some very ordinary people to participate in God's saving work. That is the way God does it. God is still doing saving works in the lives of people and in our world today. There are other beautiful stories to be told if we are willing to participate with God in the saving work that God is doing.

Now let us bow for a time of silent prayer. Let us think about the things that God may want to do in our lives and in our world. Let us think about what God may be calling us to do. When we are ready, if we are ready, let us silently pray the words "Let it be with me according to your word."