Luke tells the story best, the story of all.
The ladies around town had gossiped about Elizabeth's barren womb for decades - and now God blesses her with a child who will prepare the way for the Messiah. The rumors are just beginning, however, for Mary, the frightened teenager.
We tell the story that there was no room at the inn - but this is a euphemism. These weren't hotels. These were the homes of Joseph's relatives - family who rejected the unwed teenage mother out of shame and disgust. The one who finally showed pity on her only offered a stable space, good enough for a girl such as this. Our pretty ceramic nativity scenes don't capture the filth and sorrow of this story, and they miss the goodness for the same reason.
In this place - the place of shame and darkness and disgust - the Christ child entered the world.
The angels chose the poorest and lowliest sheep-herders to bear witness - the kind of workers who would have been on TV multiple times describing what the tornado sounded like. Certainly no group could be less trustworthy for such a task than shepherds. God's star led wise and respected men to the young boy born in a trough. Their gifts were extravagant burial items meant for an aged king, but they give them to the child-King anyway.
The young and the old. The rich and the poor. Men and women. Jews and gentiles. The religiously pure and the sin-stained. If we could only read the first two chapters of Luke's Gospel, we would know only two things for certain - this Jesus is the Messiah and this Messiah came for all.
We must each decide in our own hearts, if we will be a church that rejoices in the Gospel for all or if we will hold onto our prejudices and fears. Will we reject those that society rejects or will we be a people who believe and live out the good news that our Gospel is for all?
Luke 1:37 "no word from God will ever fail."
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