"Strangers in the Night" Luke 1: 26-28

In the Sanctuary service, the choir is presenting "The Other Wise Man."  In the Chapel, they listen to me preach!

"the Other Wise Man" formed the basis for my sermon in the Chapel.  I won't spoil the cantata for those who have not heard it before, but it raises a few questions:  Do you have to make it to the manger to see the Christ-child?  What people go to see Jesus that are not mentioned in the biblical story?  What does it mean to see the Christ-child?  I suppose I'll be attempting to answer those questions in the Chapel service.  I think the choir's singing will answer them in the Sanctuary service.

As we broaden the reflection to who might arrive by night, I find myself reflecting on the visitors who come at night.  The shepherds; not sure about the wise men, although they certainly traveled in the night; the angels that talk to Mary and Joseph presumably came at night;  presumably Jesus arrived during the night.

I have a friend whose parents received news in the middle of the night of a car accident in which their daughter had been killed;  it was a rainy night when a police officer arrived at my door step to tell me that my aunt and uncle had been killed in a plane accident.  Night visitors can be scary.

I knew about my friend's parents because when I was in college and he was married (he was older than I was), I used to stop by his house late at night when I was in town and he wanted to make sure I never went to his parents house late at night and rang the door bell.  It got to be a running joke that if he and his wife heard I was going to be in town, they left the porch light on for a late night visit.  If I arrived during daylight hours, they thought it was a mistake.  We always had fun with the late night visits.  not all night visitors are scary.

Not sure where the sermon is going, but we'll end up around the manger somehow!