Session 4: The Cry from the Manger

As we come to the end of our Advent journey, let’s imagine the moment when Jesus is born: the strength of Mary as she gives birth… the tender care of Joseph her husband… the exhausted delight of a first-time mother and father… a new born babe wearing swaddling clothes… that cry rings in our ears as Jesus takes his first breath of life… held safe in his mother’s arms…

The first sound we hear from Jesus, Emmanuel, Messiah, isn’t a booming, all-powerful voice, nor is it a joyful sound…but instead, it is a cry. The cry of a vulnerable baby, joining in with the cries of the world…

This same cry would be echoed 33 years later, not from a manger, but from a cross.

What does this cry from the manger sound like to you?

As you ponder this scene, take a moment to look over your life… are you attentive to the signs of life as Jesus is born in your heart…? Do you notice the moments where Jesus hears your cry, and understands, perhaps even responds with his own? Are there moments when you have persevered, despite the hardship…?

Are there moments where you have welcomed tenderness and delight…? Are there moments when you have held others in safety and peace…? In what ways is a long awaited promise being fulfilled in your life through gentleness and joy…?

Listen now to these words from the First Letter of John:

1 John 1-4

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Take a moment to look back over this retreat and give thanks for what you have heard, what you have seen with your eyes, what you have looked at and touched with your hands…

Jesus hears our cries, and entered into the world with his own… he loves us through our hardship, pain and suffering, just as we are. So, he sets aside his glory so that we might love him just as he is…

As we conclude our Advent retreat, what grace do you need so that Jesus might hear that infant cry within you this Christmas…? Ask God for it now and listen for God’s response…

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.