A Warm Barn on Christmas Eve

There really isn’t anything quite as nice as a barn full of contented dairy cows in the winter time when it is snowy and cold outside. One of the most pleasing experiences on the dairy farm growing up was to see the cows lying down in their stanchions at the end of the evening milking all comfy and cozy. Their bellies were full of leafy second crop alfalfa hay, and one by one they would lie down and begin chewing their cud. Their jaws would move in a funny way side to side as they calmly and rhythmically began this post meal ritual. A cow won’t chew their cud unless they are relaxed, and there was something very mesmerizing and calming about watching them perform this amazing action.

Every night after the milking was completed and the cows were fed, just before shutting off the barn lights and going in for supper; we would take a minute and enjoy this picture of tranquility. If we were lucky of all of the 96 cows in the barn, all but about four or five would be lying down at the same time.

That was a sight to behold as well. It was uncommon for a dairy farmer to have high blood pressure when that was the last thing they saw before ending their day and taking that stroll back to the house with one’s loyal dog walking alongside.

They say that on Christmas Eve at midnight the animals talk. We always made sure everything was bedded down real well on Christmas Eve so that they would have good things to say to each other about their caregivers. Once my brother and I went out at midnight very, very quietly and snuck into the haymow and listened. The cows must have heard us, because they were pretty quiet as we strained to listen.

Having been in the delivery room for our four children, I often wonder how Mary and Joseph were able to deliver baby Jesus out in a stable. Actually, scholars think that it was probably in a small cave where Jesus was born. He was laid in a manger the Bible says, so there must have been some animals kept in the cave. It was probably just as cozy as a nice warm dairy barn in winter. The King of Kings didn’t need a fancy royal palace to enter our world. In fact, Jesus came in the most humble way possible, so that all people everywhere, not just royalty, would be able to identify with the God of all creation. Jesus said unless we humble ourselves as little children, we cannot know Him as Savior. In a world where we strive to accomplish so much, God says to slow down, and take a closer look at what matters most to Him.

I shared an illustration one Sunday with our church that involves a long, long rope that encircles the earth a million times. This rope represents our life. And, on the end of that rope are two short inches representing our earthly lifetime and the rest of the rope representing our lifetime for all of eternity.

Why do we work so hard in those two inches to achieve what the world calls success, when we have all of eternity ahead of us to enjoy the riches of God’s Heaven? We live like the two inches is all we have. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This Christmas I want to consider anew the humble birth of our Savior. Until next week, God bless.

Scott Cernek is Pastor of Harvest Hills Church which meets at 308 Milwaukee Road in Clinton.