To UCC Keene that Sunday we did go
It was very cold but there was no snow
About "The Real Christmas Story" Pastor Ellis did speak
And into Luke two and Matthew two we did peek
They both talk of the birth of Jesus who God sent
But their focus and stories are quite different
Pastor said Christmas was a mere nine days away
He hopes that we can always find time to pray
To think about what Christmas really means, we need to do
For even the biblical accounts have been convoluted too
This in fact should actually not be overly surprising
When we look at the gospels and what they are comprising
About the birth of Jesus Mark is completely silent
John of course has a very theological bent
Matthew and Luke have different versions of Jesus' birth
But of course each message has a distinctive worth
Luke's version is the more familiar and known of the two
Giving birth is what Gabriel says Elizabeth and Mary will do
The latter unmarried and the former supposedly too old
But nothing is impossible with God, they were told
Jesus' birth was God's blessing for the poor
John the Baptist's talked of justice and more
Pigeons are are what Mary and Joseph did sacrifice
For the first born son, that was the dedication price
Luke focused on poverty, justice, and humility
God's intervention for the poor was no mystery
But there is no mention of King Herod or the wise men
For that, we must refer to Matthew's gospel again
From Joseph's perspective, Matthew the story does tell
Carpenter Joseph handles his moral dilemma very well
For he responds to a heavenly-sent dream
He was to take Mary as his wife, it did seem
Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, or "God saves"
He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, Matthew raves
Where He was actually born is not exactly clear
But they went to Egypt, for Herod they did fear
Even with the wise men, Matthew never said it was three
That just happened to be the number of gifts we do see
The fact the wise men are foreigners is a clear sign
For Jesus, between Jews and Gentiles there is no line
In short, the Nativity scenes that we so oft see
Are a combination of accounts - a made-up story
But that does not matter for each story has a claim
About Jesus, who loves everyone all the same
Luke says He ushers in the Kingdom of God
Matthew gives God's promises to Israel the nod
Either way, Jesus came here so all can be blessed
We can all freely receive His love, there is no test
Like the authors, we each have own Christmas meaning
As long as in the centre of it is God's light gleaming
For no matter what our own specific view
That perspective tells us what we should do
About this topic, to conclude, Pastor asked us to pray hard
For the true meaning of Christmas can not be found on a card
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