Christmas A 2010. December 25. 4:00PM, Midnight (11:00PM), 9:30AM. Isaiah 9:1-6. Titus 2:11-14. Luke 2:1-14.
Do you know who you really are – deep down inside of you – much deeper than your name or the way that you look in the mirror? Do you know who you are in the mind and heart of God? God created each of us for a reason and gives each of us a name and a vocation that we have to uncover in the unfolding of our lives. We will never be truly happy until we know who we are. We may struggle hard to be like somebody else or to succeed at what we were never intended to do. Happiness comes in being ourselves as God intended us to be, not in trying hard to be someone else. We will never be content until we become who are in the mind and heart of God. Finding ourselves may mean finding that we are important in God’s plan in ways that we never dreamt possible.
This is a Christmas story entitled The Little Lost Donkey – by Dandi Daley Mackall – with adaptations:
Come listen to my story, although you know it well.
For I am the donkey Mary rode and I’ve a tale to tell.
One starry night Joseph told Mary his bride, ‘We have to
go to
“I’m sorry, Mary,” I said. “If I could I would take you
right away. But I’m afraid that we’ll get lost. I am not a very
smart donkey and we will never find the way.”
The fearful donkey suggested, ‘perhaps you should take a
horse, or could you ride that cow? Your neighbor has a camel. Go
and ask him right now!’
But Mary said, “Little donkey, I want you,” as she
scratched behind his ear. “I am carrying a very special child and I
am sure that we have nothing to fear.”
Before the donkey knew what was happening they were on
the trail to
The donkey could feel Mary on his back. The night
got very dark and black. The donkey’s hooves beat out a clip, clop as
they marched into the darkness. When the road got rough the donkey shrieked,
“We are lost. I knew we would get lost. I always get lost. I warned you
not to count one me.” Mary whispered only one word. She said,
“Pray.”
When the donkey looked up he had a sense that he knew the
way. He started to trot until Joseph slowed him down. The donkey
was heading straight for
Donkeys know where they belong so the little donkey led
Mary and Joseph straight to the stable where animals stay. When Jesus was
born the little donkey pointed to the manger where animals eat hay.
Somehow this donkey who never thought of himself as being very smart was having
all of the best ideas that first Christmas night. The donkey didn’t realize
that the story about the baby born in a stable and placed in a manger would be
told everywhere, forever. It was only later when the donkey heard the
story told again that he understood that the baby he carried on his back and
led to the stable was the promised Messiah and God himself.
And so if you feel unimportant, lost and not very smart,
remember that we are all called to carry the Lord Jesus in our heart and bring him
to the people around us in ways that we never thought possible, and may not
even understand. Jesus rides best and does the most good when he is on
the back of a humble donkey. Carrying Christ to others brings us a joy and a
peace that nothing else can give. But wait; there is another important side to
this story. Those who see themselves as the all-important center of their
family, their job or business, or the world never find true happiness for
themselves; and they are powerless to bring peace to others. The little
lost donkey of
Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum,
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?
Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.
Mary is called the “Theotokos” – that means the “Bearer of God.” Christmas is about receiving Christ into our hearts and carrying him out into the world as Mary did. May Christ be the most important gift we receive and the best gift we give at Christmas. May peace and joy ride with us into the hearts of all we meet during Christmas time and always. For the humility to make Christ and his kingdom the center of our lives we give God thanks and praise.