A Manger Scene

A manger scene,
our manger scene,
a tiny little manger scene.
Everywhere we go, we see them.
Mary kneeling, Joseph standing
shepherds with their trailing sheep watching,
wise men with their robes and gifts adoring.
Everyone’s eyes pointing to the baby Jesus,
lying on a bed of hay in a manger.
The wooden beams of the stable sheltering,
the golden angel heralding
and a star shining.

Everywhere we go we see them;
manger scenes made of wood
or clay or glass or cloth or plastic,
on living room tables, Sunday school platforms,
people’s lawns, department store windows.
The manger scene freezeframes the moment of contact,
God made flesh, dwelling among us,
a baby, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

You came to dwell among us, Lord,
on that long ago Christmas day,
yet this year I want to dwell with you.
I want to find myself in the manger scene,
I want to lose myself in the manger scene,
wrapped up in the story,
the story wrapped up in me.
And so, God of all the Hosts in Heaven,
hear my prayer.

Give me strong legs like Joseph,
standing at Mary’s side, supporting, protecting.
He walked on those legs to Bethlehem,
those legs will take him to Egypt, carrying a baby,
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me eyes to see like the animals,
eyes like the cow, the sheep, the donkey,
patiently watching, simply being,
waiting to see what will happen next to
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me hands like the wise men,
always filled with rich gifts
that are carried over long distances,
hands that fold in prayer when they meet
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a voice like the angels,
so that I can share good news,
of peace on earth, good will to all people,
telling everyone how to meet
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me feet like the shepherds,
racing down from the mountains,
feet that seek good news
and will bear good news of
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a belly like Mary’s
receptive to love growing inside me,
sheltering that love, nurturing that love,
no barriers between my body, and the body of
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a heart that shines
like a bright star twinkling on a dark night,
like a north star over a fathomless sea,
pointing, always pointing truly to
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give me a mind like this stable,
holding this community of faith,
embracing this company of worshipers
whose centre is always, only Jesus,
Immanuel, God with us,
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

Give us a body like Jesus,
that grows in wisdom
and speaks the truth
and feeds the hungry
and loves the rejected
and heals the wounded
and comforts the brokenhearted
and gives freely, as freely as the one who is
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

It’s all right here.
In a manger scene,
our manger scene,
a tiny little manger scene.
Everywhere we go, we see them.

[For a reader’s theatre, a narrator would read the first three stanzas and the last one,
with nine other people reading the parts of the manger scene.
If you have a manger scene with movable parts,
each person could pick up the figure they are speaking about.
The narrator would gesture towards the manger scene at the beginning and ending.]