Midwives to the good news

 Luke 2:2-20

When we put together our nativity sets each year, who is in the scene? Mary, Joseph, manger (waiting for Jesus), angels, shepherds, animals, magi with gifts. Who is missing? The midwives!

It always puzzled me how this young couple who had never had children could know how to manage labor and delivery. At first, I figured they both knew enough about animals, so they would have been able to figure it out. Then, Mary spent three months with Elizabeth, and was probably around when John was born, maybe even assisted in the birth.

Later, I learned that the phrase “there was no room in the inn” more likely meant the upper guest quarters were occupied since there were so many family members in town. The stable area was quiet, and away from the guests. It could be cleaned for the purpose of childbirth.

And then, I realized that when Luke, a man, told the story, he would have left out the seemingly insignificant persons, namely the midwife or midwives. He was probably retelling the story as others told it, so we can’t really blame just Luke.

Midwives have been present at human births since long before recorded history, always in the background, but always essential. They appear significantly in the book of Exodus, directly confronting Pharaoh and refusing to kill all the boy babies.

In the Middle Ages, midwives were painted into the nativity scene, off to the side, in the background, but very definitely present. Later, men began to notice how much these women knew about herbs and medical care and became afraid of them. The witch trials in Europe and America arose in part from such fears.

… I have to admit that what I know about midwifery comes from the wonderful TV series, Call the Midwife. Typically, midwives care for the expectant mother from the earliest days of pregnancy, through the birth, and continue to care for the family once the child is born.

If we read the Lukan narrative carefully, we can see that Mary and Joseph had been in town for a while before her labor began. The text says in verse 6, “While they were there, the time came for her to deliver.”

It may have been a day, a week, or a month. There was time to put a plan into place for the birth. Since the town was full to bursting with census tourists, the family and midwife had to think through what would work. They would have had time to thoroughly clean the stable area of the house, to gather the cloths and other supplies. It was a first birth, so even the labor would have lasted several hours.

And what a story the midwives would have to tell! Can you imagine them gathered with other midwives and mothers in town!? They would have witnessed the shepherds who came to visit. They, too, would have been filled with wonder.

… Why does it matter that there were midwives at the birth of Jesus? It matters because Jesus comes to us all the time, in many ways. Sometimes, he is brought to us by Romans with swords and crosses. Sometimes, he is brought to us by a pregnant Mary.

Here is a poem by St John of the Cross. 

“If you want” 

St John of the Cross

If you want,

The Virgin will come walking down the road

pregnant with the holy,

and say,

“I need shelter for the night,

please take me inside your heart,

my time is so close.”

Then, under the roof of your soul

you will witness the sublime

intimacy, the divine, the Christ

taking birth

forever,

 

as she grasps your hand for help,

for each one of us is the midwife of God, each of us.

 

Yet there, under the dome of your being does creation

come into existence eternally,

through your womb, dear pilgrim—

the sacred womb in your soul,

 

as God grasps our arms for help;

for each of us is

His beloved servant

never far.

 

If you want, the Virgin will come walking

down the street pregnant

with Light and sing … 

 [St John of the Cross, “If You Want”, Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, (New York: Penguin Group, 2002), 306-307]

 Sometimes we need a midwife or two to help us embrace Jesus. We accept him with our heads, but it’s much harder to let him into our hearts. That’s why the idea of God as human, incarnated from the beginning as a baby, is so genius. Most people find it hard to resist an infant, so soft and cuddly. It’s easy to love and be loved. It may be much easier at Christmas time to open our hearts and let God in than it is during Holy Week, when we are tempted to turn our eyes away from the horror of the cross!

Did you ever think of yourself as a midwife, bringing Jesus to others, helping to birth Jesus in other hearts? I intentionally choose “Go tell it on the mountain” as the sending hymn for Christmas Eve because we are not supposed to keep Jesus to ourselves. We are supposed to share him and his love with others. We are supposed to help others know Jesus by bringing him into their worlds just like midwives bring babies into our world. Amen