The Apostle Paul calls us Jars of Clay (2 Corinthians 4:7). As followers of Jesus we must allow the Word of God to fill us with it's message of Truth and Grace. In this way, we become a "vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

The Cranky Donkey - December 24, 2018 Christmas Eve service



The Christmas Story through the eyes of a donkey
By Pastor Greg...

Oh, hey there.  How’s your day?  Boy I tell ya, mine aint so hot.  I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for two weeks.  I walked here all the way from Nazareth.  What’cha mean “Where’s that?”  It upstate in Galilee, up in the hills from Lake Tiberias. 
What?  Oh, yeah.  I always thought it was called the “Sea of Galilee” too, but some smart-aleck seagull acts all know-it-all and says, “Oh no.  It’s named after the Roman Emperor.”  I don’t even know what that means.

Whatever.  Dumb seagulls anyway.  What do they know?

Anyway, about two weeks ago my master comes out to the stall and throws a bunch of stuff on my back; mutterin about some dumb census, or something, and how it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.  I thought we were making another practice run to the birthing house.  My master’s wife was going to have a baby pretty soon.  I remember thinking, “buddy, you’re packing an awful lot of stuff just for a trip into town.”  That’s when I realized this wasn’t going to be any ordinary trip.  No siree bob.  We would be going on a long journey.

He puts all these supplies on my back and THEN, then he gets Mary to hop on my back as well.  And she was definitely expecting real, real soon.  I tried to tell Joseph, but he just wouldn’t listen.

Sometimes I think most humans don’t understand what we animals are trying to say (well, I did hear about this one guy who could talk to the animals…).
Oh, I know; it sounds like I’m complaining.  I sound like some cranky, lanky, winky, wanky, donkey.  Hey, don’t get me wrong; I don’t mind quick trips to the market, but this trip took a long, long, time.  We were walking for a whole week!  It’s 90 miles from Nazareth to here, and I had to carry all this stuff.  No wonder my bursitis is acting up.  And have you ever seen the road that comes up out of Jericho?  I was huff’n and puff’n by the time we reached Jerusalem.  Then we had to make our way through town, late at night, mind you, and find our way to Bethlehem.  I started getting a little impatient toward the end.  I kept asking Joseph, “HEE HAW, Are we there, yet?  HEE HAW, Are we there, yet?”  But he got a little impatient with me.  I think we all were getting a little cranky, but he didn’t have to whack me on the head.  I just wanted to know, you know?

When we finally do get into Bethlehem there’s no place to stay.  I mean, it’s like everyone came at the same time.  I couldn’t even find a good spot at the watering trough.  All the rich donkeys from Emmaus were hoggin all the water.  Like, they had a long walk!  We ended up spending the night in a shed outback.  I didn’t mind too much, but I thought, “this aint no place for Mary”; and that baby was coming real soon, you know what I mean?

I was tired.  So was Mary.  Joseph looked worried.  A bunch of ladies showed up with blankets and water.  That’s the last thing I remember for a while.  I fell asleep.
I remember having a nice dream about a land far, far, away where there were dragons and princesses and talking cookies.  All of a sudden, a bunch of sheep wake me up.  Sheep really get on my nerves; they have an opinion on everything… and it’s always baaad.

Well, these sheep keep going on and on about what they had just seen.  Seems some angels woke them up and starting singing something about a Savior being born right here in the City of David.  Dumb sheep.  I kept trying to tell them they were in the wrong town; this is Bethlehem, but you know sheep.  They won’t let you get an word in edgewise.  It’s all “baa, baa” this, and “baa baa” that. 

Everyone was looking over at the feeding trough.  And I remember thinking, hey, Mary must have had her baby while I was asleep.  And I remember thinking “finally,” but the shepherds kept saying these wild things about my master’s new son.  And Joseph is standing there with this shocked look on his face while Mary was beaming from ear to ear.

The kid was kinda cute… for a human.  Their ears are waaay too small.

I remember wondering why everyone was just standing around marveling at this kid.  What made him so special?  I asked the sheep and they kept going on and on about how the angels appeared to “them.”  Oh, la-de-da; like that makes them sooo special.  If there was something special about the baby, then I could brag about carrying him here all the way from Nazareth.  But you know what it’s like trying to talk to a sheep.

Anyway, that was last week.  Well, today Mary and the baby climbed on my back and I brought them here to the Temple.  Joseph says today they will give the baby a name.  I think they plan to call him Jesus.  That’s what I overheard.  But here’s the really wild part.  We’re walking into the city when this old guy stops us and says, “At last, at last, I have seen the Savior.”  And he’s pointing at the Baby.  He looked at the baby and said He would help the Gentiles come to know God (whatever a “Gentile” is; I don’t know), and how this kid was the one God promised to the people of Israel.  It was kinda like what the sheep were saying a week ago; I guess they were right… but I’ll never tell them that!!

So, I don’t know what to think.  I know I’m tired.  I know I’ve been away from home for a long time.  I can’t wait to get back to my own bed of straw.  But still…
There’s something special about that kid; I just know it.  Things seem kinda different now.  I mean, when I look at this Baby Jesus, something inside of me changes; it’s like He takes away my worries and my fears.  And even my hooves don’t hurt as much.  And, wow; those eyes.  He looks at me with those tiny eyes and it’s like He can see even into my soul.

And to think… I got to carry Him all the way here.

Not that I’m braggin, or anything.

(see Luke 2:1-33 for more information)

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