Dr. Mike Murphy
December 15, 2022
1991 changed the world as we knew it. With the fall of the Soviet Union much of the world began to change, and the opportunity to spread the Good News presented itself to many Christian missionaries. The newly formed Russian government even began to invite many American Christians in to teach ethics and morals based on Biblical doctrine. It is here that our story begins, as two Americans accepted this invitation and found themselves at an orphanage in Russia as Christmas Day approached.
They began telling the story of the Nativity to the children and staff of the orphanage. This was the first time most of these had heard of Jesus, much less the story of Christ’ birth. As they heard the details that forever changed the world that night, they sat fixed on each word as the story unveiled itself. They were told of Mary and Joseph traveling to the small town of Bethlehem, finding no room at the inn and having to take what room they could find in the stables, and how when Jesus was born he was placed in a manger.
At the conclusion of the story, each child was given three, small pieces of cardboard so each could build their own manger. A yellow napkin was torn into small strips so each child could fill their manger with straw. Small squares of flannel were cut from an old, abandoned nightgown so that each manger would have a baby blanket. Finally, the two missionaries cut a small baby for each child from a piece of tan felt they had with them.
The two men walked around to each child offering to help as they constructed their manger. All was going well until one of the men noticed a six year old orphan boy named Misha was sitting alone. Misha had finished his manger, and when the man looked at it closely, he noticed that Misha had placed two babies in his manger.
He asked Misha if he had fully understood the story, and without hesitation, Misha began to quote it back to him with incredible accuracy. He was amazed at how well this young child knew the story after hearing it for his first time. That was until Misha came to the part where Mary placed Jesus in the manger. It was here that Misha’s story began to take a different direction.
Misha told the missionary that when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked over at him and asked him if he had a place to stay. Misha told him that he did not have a mother and father, so he did not have a place to stay. Jesus told Misha that he could stay with him. But Misha replied to Jesus that he could not stay with him, because he did not own or have anything, having no gift he could give him like everyone else had.
But Misha so badly wanted to stay with Jesus, that he thought really hard of anything he could give as a gift. Finally, Misha thought of one thing he might be able give. He knew that it was cold that night, so he thought maybe he could keep Jesus warm. That would be his gift. So Misha asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?” Jesus answered, “If you come close and keep me warm, that is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me.” So Misha said he climbed into the manger, and as he did, Jesus looked over and told him that he could stay with Him forever.
After being told this story, and getting the lump out of my throat, a Bible verse quickly came to my mind. Luke 18:17, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all”.
My life has been blessed to be able to preach God’s Word, to have been a part of discussion panels about my faith, and to teach studies about the Hebrew and Greek meaning of Bible verses. But in that moment, I realized that the words of a young, orphaned boy rang stronger with truth than all of my cumulative words combined. In his simple words rang a simple truth, a truth that is all that matters. It is not what we have in this life, but WHO we have in this life.
It is time that we, the Church, got back to the simple message of this child. God chose to come into this world that night with the most humble and basic of beginnings. He was born in a small town that probably did not appear on many of the maps of the day. He was not born into the royalty of this world, but to simple, everyday people. But the Lord knew that only from such humble beginnings would come a way to reach all mankind. A simple message of salvation everyone could understand. And the stories that surround that night prove it. We see the richest of kings men, and the poorest of shepherds both find their way to the feet of this Child!
As you read the Christmas story this year, I hope each of you will remember the beauty of that simple message the Lord brought to us that amazing, incredible night so many years ago. And I pray that in this coming year, that we, the Church, will find our way back into that manger with Misha. That we will show the world just how comfortable and welcoming that manger can be. And just like Misha so quickly desired and understood, there is room in that manger for each of us to share with Christ forever.
And I want to wish a very special thank you to an extraordinary, young orphaned boy named Misha. You reminded me what is most important in the Christmas story, and the message the Lord introduced to the world that incredible night. You truly taught this old dog the most priceless of new tricks!Hope each of you this Christmas finds your way into that manger!
