What to say on this night of all nights when we come face to face with the miraculous mystery of the Incarnation a journey that will take us to Bethlehem and out into the fields so that we can meet the people whose lives, in a mysterious way, touch ours tonight. Perhaps they can lead us a little deeper into this extraordinary mystery.

Come first and meet Mary and Joseph, a young couple from Nazareth forced to travel many miles to Bethlehem all because the Emperor Augustus has decided that a world wide census would serve his purposes very well indeed , of course, about the implications for ordinary people, many of whom already struggle to meet the challenges thrown up by everyday life. Then, as now, it was the people on the edges of society that struggled most. But all were affected in different ways, people like Mary and Joseph. A young couple, they are betrothed, but not yet married, and Mary has the unsettling, troubling experience of an angel telling her that she is blessed by God and that she is to have a child. The angel had said would Joseph divorce her as he was quite entitled to do, would her own family or community ostracise her? In the event, Joseph stood by her, in part because he too had an extraordinary dream where he felt a strong sense that God was talking to him, encouraging him to take Mary as his wife - that all would be well. And then this demand from a remote unknown politician that they must go to Bethlehem egnant. The journey, was exhausting for her, and they could only cover a few miles each day so it seemed to take forever. They were both anxious and frightened and the baby survive the ordeal. Many didnhe thought of Mary or her baby dying, so far from loved ones was too much to contemplate. So many people share her experience today

Eventually, they reached Bethlehem and the place was packed to the gunnels with dozens of people travelling in to register for the census. Local families had taken in as many people as they could And then Mary went into Labour. Joseph was there of course, but she felt so alone in her pain, so frightened, for herself and her baby. But hours later the pain and fear seemed to melt away as she cradled her beautiful baby boy in her arms, exhausted but strangely peaceful and comforted by Joseph

Meanwhile, something equally extraordinary has happened out in the fields outside Bethlehem. There are a group of nomadic shepherds tending their sheep, huddled around a fire underneath the night sky

They could have kept this amazing, almost other-worldly experience to themselves, but they did not. Rather they set off immediately and didn

As for the shepherds, so excited, so exhilarated were they by all that they had experienced during the last few hours that they told everyone they met along the way

God had shared with people many regarded as nobodies the greatest news ever given; nobodies whom He could trust to carry this news of hope, joy and love far and wide. And the illegitimate pregnancy of a young girl that threatened disgrace and abandonment has been transformed into goodness, love and hope. The ways of the world are turned upside down! Emmanuel, God with us; the invisible God now visible in the face of a child cradled in his mother

The child who was born outside, whose birth was announced first to those who lived outside and were regarded as outsiders, would grow up to live himself with those who were outsiders. And ultimately he would die outside - the city walls. Emmanuel

Ultimately, we may never really understand the miracle and mystery we celebrate tonight; perhaps that