Luke 2:1-20
“The Birth of a King”
Pastors
always feel a challenge on Sundays like this … to somehow give new insights and
a new way of hearing what is familiar to all of us. Most of us have heard the Christmas story
from the time we’ve been born. It’s the
same story, year after year. But, what
I’d like to do this morning is to give you a fresh way of hearing the story and
then, we’re going to move into understanding why we should be grateful that we
have this same story year, after year, after year.
When
we think of that first Christmas, most of us have in our minds a picture of
what it might have been like. We
envision a peaceful night. Mary is 9
months pregnant, but she is filled with joy, even after riding on a donkey to
I
mean, this is what we see in most of the paintings and the images we have on
Christmas cards and in our Nativity sets.
Marie and I have several Nativity sets from all over the world and they
all seem to portray this image of serenity, bliss, calm and beauty, like the
one we have here on the altar. Joseph is
standing over Mary & the baby, calm and serene. And even though Mary has just had a baby, she’s
sitting up with no discomfort at all, entertaining guests! And I have to wonder, was that what the
Christmas story was really like? Did it
really happen that way? I mean, that
seems a bit romanticized, doesn’t it?
Most
women, as they approach their due date experience body swelling and their back
hurts. Just walking across the room is a
difficult adventure for most women at that stage, much less riding on a donkey
for 5 days. Medical experts say that for
a woman having her first baby, labor typically last 10 – 12 hours. And Mary didn’t have the benefit of medicine
or pain blockers. So, the labor would
have been painful and exhausting. And having
a baby is frightening enough, but Mary delivered in a barn, away from the
support of her family. So, that had to
be difficult for her.
And
what about Joseph? I don’t know if any
men here have had to deliver their wife’s baby, but I can tell you from my own
experience and from watching a number of husbands during the time of delivery,
just the waiting is anxious enough. A
lot of men don’t even make it through the delivery. At the first sight of blood, they pass
out. And that’s with the doctor doing
all the work. I can only imagine what
Joseph must have been going through, having to deliver this baby on his own, in
a barn. He must have been a wreck
afterwards
And
then, most of the scenes have the Baby Jesus laying there content and quiet,
often with his hands clasped together as if he is praying. But that must have been before he got hungry,
because that is not my experience of a new born.
Some
years ago, in a Christmas pageant with live actors, I saw a more realistic
picture of what things might have been like.
During the singing of the Angels, the baby in the manger decided that he
had had enough and he began to cry. I
mean, you could hear him above the Angels’ singing. The woman playing Mary tried her best to
console him, but just he cried louder.
And at one point, she looked up to the man playing Joseph seeking his help,
but he gave her this look as if, “Hey,
it’s not my kid.” I could envision
at that moment what might have really been happening that night. At some point, I could see Mary turning to
Joseph and saying, “Would you please tell
those Angels to keep it quiet, I’m trying to get this kid to sleep!”
Now,
that’s not the image we see on our Hallmark cards, is it? But that might have been a little closer to
reality … because, in reality, life is messy.
Life is not always ideal, neat and sanitary, romantic and blissful. And in this case, even though God was doing
the greatest thing that God would do in the history of humankind by bringing
His Son into this world, it happened in the most extraordinary way … in that
there were no conveniences and no comforts.
There was pain and it was messy, and it was scary. There had to be a moment when Mary was probably
crying, “This is not how I thought it
would it be!” And she had to be
wishing that her mother was there by her side, because that is real life. And that is probably more like the real
Christmas story.
And
the reason that I want you to think about that is because in our own lives, we
know that life is not always blissful and idyllic either. When we first get married, we think that it
is always going to be blissful and romantic.
But pretty soon, we find out that it doesn’t work that way. There are wonderful moments in being married
and there are hard moments. There are frustrations
and moments when we feel like giving up.
Marriage is messy and it’s not always neat and tidy. And that’s life! Yet, what we discover is that God is at work
in those moments that are distressing and difficult.
When
we decide to have children, we think that having children is going to somehow
complete us and make life wonderful. And
it is, when they’re asleep. But in
between all those wonderful times, we’re scared to death. There are moments when our stomachs are in
knots … when we’re confused and when our feelings get hurt. There are times when we want to shake them
and scream at them. And there are
moments when we think that we’re loosing our minds. Life is just that way. It’s not always neat and tidy.
Yet,
we remember that Mary and Joseph didn’t give up. They didn’t throw in the towel. And they recognized that God was working in
their midst, even in that stable, where things weren’t ideal and how they
thought it would be. God was there and
somehow that made it all bearable. And
this is they way it is in our lives.
When God is in us and with us, we say, “I can make it through this, because I know that God is going to carry
me through it. Even though things are
not going how I wanted, I know that God is with me.” This is the way life is … it’s not always
perfect.
Now, with
that in mind, I want to focus on why it is a good thing that the Christmas
Story remains the same every year and why it’s not something new each
year. You see, we live in a world of
constant change. You may remember the
words of the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, because it’s not the same
river and he’s not the same man.”
This Christmas is not the same as the one you experienced last
year. Not because the Christmas story
changes. It stays the same, this year,
and next year, and the year after that.
What is different is your life’s situation … your river. And you are different. You are not the same person this Christmas
that you were last Christmas.
I have
seen this in some of the Christmas cards that I have received this year. We have some folks who send us cards with a
letter about what has happened in each member of their family’s life over the
year. Reading those cards and letters,
it is clear that they are not the same people that they were last Christmas. Some of you have gotten married since last
Christmas and that has changed the way you approach Christmas. Some of you have had a baby since last
Christmas and that changes everything about how we approach Christmas, even for
those of us who are grandparents.
This
week, I received a card from a man who had lost his wife this past year. I was so touched that he would be sending me
a card, because this will be the first Christmas without his beloved wife in
decades. He’s not the same man and it’s
not the same river. And some of you have
loved ones over in
We’re not
the same people and we’re not in the same river, but it’s the same story. You see, life is constantly changing and in
the midst of a life that is constantly changing there is something to be said
for those things that don’t change … because those things are the things that
we can count on and hold on to. Over the
years, these things become more valued because they are the same.
We all
have our cherished traditions when it comes to Christmas. These things change somewhat as our children
get older. But for my family, we have
the tradition of participating in the Christmas Eve services each year. Marie and I always enjoy serving communion
together on Christmas Eve. And we have
sought to involve our children in various ways throughout the years. After we get home from the services, we
always have a special meal together with certain favorite foods. Before going to bed, we always try to gather
around the Christmas tree and read the Christmas story together.
When the
children were younger and we finally got them to bed around 1:00 in the morning,
I would start to wrap Marie’s presents.
And after that, I would discover that the gifts that Santa had brought
for the children he never thought to put them together. So, at 2:00 in the morning, I would be
putting together toys with hundreds of parts and stickers … after having
preached at all the Christmas Eve services earlier.
And so,
when we finally got to bed, we were exhausted.
And our prayer was that the kids would let us sleep late on Christmas
morning. But that was never the
case. Usually at 6:00 AM we’d start to
hear their giggles and movements. Marie
would jump up and seek hold them off, guarding the Christmas tree, so they
wouldn’t see Santa’s gifts until we all got up and could capture the moment
with cameras. Don’t you hate people who
take pictures of you just after you’ve gotten up in the morning? I would always try to stall them by refusing
to get out of bed and telling them that it was too early. So, they would find creative ways to try to
get us all up. They’d bang on toys or
blow a horn. And when that didn’t work,
they’d jump in bed with us.
But an
interesting thing happens when they grow up.
They come to love sleep more than presents. And so, as the boys got older, Marie and I
would lay in bed as long as we possibly could, and finally we couldn’t stand it
anymore … so we were the ones jumping in their beds, trying to get them
up. I’d blow a horn and Marie would
yell, “Come on boys, its time to get
up! Its Christmas morning! Come on!”
Things
changed again, when my daughter came along later in life. Now, she’s the one up early, yelling at all
of us to get up. Christmas for my boys has
changed. One is married, with a wife and
daughter and so we have a grandchild to celebrate Christmas with. Now, I get to laugh at them complaining about
putting toys together in the middle of the night. My other son is a typical teenager … he loves
complicating Christmas with his “bah-humbug” attitude. But the time will come when that will
change. All of life continually changes,
but the story remains the same.
And
here’s the thing about the Christmas story.
The Angels captured it well as they spoke to the Shepherds in that
field. “Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy
for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of
“Good news of great joy.” That’s what this
same old Christmas story offers us year after year … from the time we are born,
until the last Christmas that we breathe.
It offers us “Good news of great
joy for all people” for you and for me.
But “how”?
What’s “the great joy” in the Christmas
story? I think it is answered in that
Christmas carol that we sing each year, “What Child is This.” I mean, whose birth are we celebrating? And of course, we all know that it is Jesus,
but what about Jesus? I mean, he was a
Jewish peasant that lived 2000 years ago, but is there something more? And the Angel gives us the answer. He says, “I
bring you good news of great joy, for unto this day is born in the city of
The Angel
says that he was “the Messiah”. Some
translations say he was “the Christ”.
Both words mean the same thing.
“Messiah” comes from the Hebrew.
“Christ” comes from the Greek.
They both mean “the Anointed One” … that he would be a King that was set
apart to do something remarkable. Every
King or Emperor in ancient times considered themselves to be “an anointed
one”. But the Hebrew prophets had
foretold hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, that God would send a
king from the lineage of David, who would rule on the throne of David and over
the house of
The Jews
in Jesus’ day held on to this prophecy, believing that a king would come who
would overthrow the Romans. And we know
that the Jews weren’t the only ones who were looking for a Messiah. There were other ancient people who were
waiting for a king that would come who would unite all people and bring peace
to all people. This included the
Zoroastrian Priests known as “Magi” who lived in Modern day
And so,
there was this sense from a number of different people that the King had
come. And all the Early Christians
believed that Jesus was, in fact, this King that had been promised from old. But what an interesting and strange King he
was. I mean, he wasn’t born in a palace
or into great wealth. He did not come
with armies and the sword, as the other Emperors and Caesars had done. Instead, he dressed in peasant clothing. He took the time to put children on his lap;
and he associated with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. And when he proclaimed to them the kind of
Kingdom he was offering, he said, “My
kingdom is not of this world.” For,
he rules in the hearts of people, not on an earthly throne.
And when
he calls people to follow him, he commands them to do certain things. He commands them “to love God with everything that is within them” and then “to love their neighbors as they love
themselves.” He commands them, “To take up their cross and follow him.” That is, to lay down their lives if
necessary. He says, “Those of you who would be great, must become the servants of others.” He says, “The
meek will be blessed and those who are lowly and hungry will be comforted.”
This is
the Kingdom that he offers us … a Kingdom in which we follow God and we live
differently than the rest of the world.
When you see someone who is hurting or in need, you “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” And
then, this King lays down his life for his subjects. What kind of King does that? This King does that. And this is the Kingdom he calls us to … even
today.
We have
many choices in life as to who and what we are going to follow. But when you compare the world’s kings to
this King … when you compare the world’s pursuits to the values of His Kingdom,
there is really nothing to compare. This
is why, after hearing about this Jesus, at an early age I got on my knees and
said, “Jesus, I want to follow you. I want to pursue the life you have for me and
make you Lord of my life.” And every
day since then, I pray that prayer and try to live for him. This is what it means to follow him. Daily, we submit our lives and seek to follow
him.
And this
is why I am grateful that this story stays the same. Each year Christmas comes to remind us of the
kind of King that has been born to us.
And it reminds us that if we’ve gotten off track somewhere along the way,
we’re invited back to the manger, where he will receive us. Like the Shepherds and the Wise Men, we bow
down and worship him, saying, “I choose
to follow you as my Lord and King.”
I would
remind you this Christmas, that if Jesus isn’t the King of you life … if he
doesn’t sit on the throne of your heart, then who does? Who is the master of your life? Who is it that you seek to please more than
anything else, if it’s not Him?
Now, the
other thing that we are told in this story is that, “To you is born this day in the city of
Jesus
came to be a very different kind of Savior.
His name was “Iesous” in
Greek, but his mother would have called him “Yahshua”. And that name meant, “Yahweh saves” … “God
saves”. So, his name itself meant
“Savior”. But what does he save us from? What do you need to be saved from?
Every
year, I find there are different things that I need to be saved from. When we read the story of Jesus, we see that
he commands us “to love our neighbors” and in this, he saves us from being
self-centered and self-absorbed. He
commands us “to love our enemies” and in this, he saves us from bitterness and
vengeance. He commands us “to help those
in need” and in this, he saves us from hearts that have no pity or compassion. He commands us “to forgive those who harm us”
and in this, he saves us from a life with no mercy. He calls us to “not be concerned about the
splinter in our neighbor’s eye, but to deal with the log in our own” and in
this, he saves us from being judgmental and critical. He reminds us that “our lives do not consist
in the abundance of our possessions” and in this, he saves us from
materialism. He tells us “to go and make
disciples of all people and to live our lives for him” and in this, he saves us
from a purposeless existence. He tells
us that “God loves us with an everlasting love” and in this, he saves us from a
loveless life. He tells us that “he will
be with us always” and in this, he saves us from a lonely life. He tells us that he can take the evil and
difficult things in our lives and redeem them, so that all things can work
together for good in our lives when we put them in his hands, and in this, he
saves us from a hopeless life.
And
of course, we remember that Jesus sets us free from sin. He saw himself as offering his life for the
sins of the world. He willingly laid
down his life, hoping that we might be moved to repent and choose to live a
different kind of life, following him.
He gave his life so that we would be able to come to God and be forgiven
of our sins. As the hymn says, “He breaks the power of cancelled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His love can make
the foulest clean. His love availed for
me.”
Finally,
he saves us from the one thing that is our destiny. He saves us from death itself. To Mary and Martha, who were grieving the
loss of their loved one, Jesus said, “I
am the resurrection and the life and those who believe in me, even though they
die, yet shall they live. And whoever
lives and believes in me will never die.”
He said, “I go to prepare a place
for you, so that when I come back one day, you will be with me where I am.”
In
his death and his resurrection, he triumphed over the grave and proclaimed a
hope for us. And this changes everything! Christmas is hard for many people. Many of us have lost loved ones in the course
of this year and we don’t know what this next year holds for any of us. The only thing that brings hope in the midst
of this reality is the Babe who was born in
This
past week, we said farewell to one who has served among us for fifty plus years
… Bessie. As painful as that has been,
what a joy it was to celebrate her life trusting in this hope … that her life
and our lives do not end at the grave. Because he lives, we shall live also!
All
of this is part of the gift of Christmas.
It is the sameness of the story that speaks to us in different ways year,
after year, after year. And this leads
me to this conclusion.
This
week, I went to visit with one of our homebound couples. They were not going to be able to make it to
Christmas Eve services to have communion, so I went to share the sacrament with
them. Both he and his wife are near their
90’s. And as I visited with them, I was reminded that they had heard this same
Christmas story for almost 90 years. It
had meant something different when they were children and something different
when they were teenagers. They had
listened to the Christmas story during the Depression. They had listened to the Christmas story
during the World Wars; the Korean War; the Vietnam War; and the Gulf War. They had heard the Christmas story one way
during the Bull Markets and another way during the Bear Markets. They had listened to the Christmas story
during great tragedies and during great triumphs. They held their babies in their arms and told
them the story at one point and later on their grandchildren.
In
all of those years, they had walked in different rivers and they were different
people … but the story remained the same.
And it has been the one thing that they could count on, hold on to, and
live by. They make no doubt that Jesus is
their King … their Messiah, Lord, and Savior. And so, I asked them if they’d like to hear
the Christmas story one more time. They
said, “O Yes.” And I read from Luke 2:
“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all
the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the
Messiah, the Lord.”
As
I read those words, tears filled their eyes, and he said, “I never get tired of hearing that story.” The reason why, is because the Christmas
story is good news of great joy for all people!