Click to hear this sermon sermon071223

"Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way..."

Being Prepared: God With Us - Matthew 1: 18-25 - December 23, 2007 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett 1. Bassett

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way." Those are the words Matthew used to introduce the Christmas story. They are wonderfully simple words to represent a process that I imagine was a complicated and even messy one. It is fairly clear from the Bible that the stories of Christmas arose after the fact. Jesus had completed His earthly ministry. His death on the cross had happened; His resurrection from the tomb had happened; disciples were carrying the exciting news to more and more places; people were trying to come to grips with who this Jesus was.

            And it would only follow logically that as people shared about the incredible things Jesus had said and done they would begin to be very interested in His origins: where did He come from? How was He born? And then maybe someone said, "Well, I heard that He was descended from King David." And someone else said, "I heard something about a carpenter named Joseph." And someone else said, "I heard about shepherds," or, "I heard that He was cousin to John the Baptist." And so, these threads came together, and at least two people we know about wrote some of them down.

            Those two people are Matthew and Luke. Matthew and Luke are the two writers in the Bible who wanted us to know where Jesus came from, and the way they tell that story has been both fascinating and beautiful. It's a story we all love.

            Trying to imagine who these two writers are, and what they were trying to accomplish, is part of the fun. Matthew seems to have lived among some fairly well-to­-do people. We guess that from the way he talks about money, and the way he talks about cities, where the wealthy were most likely to be. And so, when he tells the story of the birth of Jesus, he does it from the perspective of the better-off -- the Gospel for Bill Gates and Donald Trump. The characters in Matthew's Christmas story are kings, wise men with expensive gifts, and Joseph, Jesus' father. Joseph probably was not rich; but as a person with a specialized skill- a carpenter - he probably did all right; and, as a man, he automatically had particular privileges and advantages in that society. So, in Matthew's story, when the wise men find Jesus, they find him not in a barn, but in a house.

            On the other side of the coin, if you read through the Gospel of Luke, you'll see very special attention paid to the poor and the downtrodden in society. When you read the Christmas story from Luke's perspective, the characters are shepherds, peasants; there are no expensive gifts for the baby; and the shepherds find Jesus, not in a house, but as an outcast in a stable, lying in a manger. And the story is told from the perspective of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who prays about her poverty, and her lowliness; and who, as a woman, is considered a second-class citizen, with no legal standing or rights.

            And so, we have two contrasting stories of Jesus' birth, and we have handled that by putting the stories together. As a result, at Christmastime we celebrate both Jesus the baby, and Jesus the king; we say both that the rich came, and the poor came; the wise came, and the simple came; we say that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but born

to very human parents; that he was worthy of the gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, but also of the pure worship of those who had no earthly gifts; that his birth sparked both the violent decree of Herod, and the quiet contemplation of Mary.

            Yet amidst all those contrasts, the simple truth holds the same - this was Emmanuel! This was God is with us! When those first followers of Jesus began to pull together those stories about His birth in Bethlehem, they were talking about something that had changed their lives forever. God had entered the world in a way that He never had before. The Jewish people had always had a personal sense of God - that God was not some faraway spirit or some philosophical idea.

            But now, Christians claimed that with Jesus God had taken a Giant Step forward­God had entered the world through His own Son. As they shared that message in a skeptical world, no doubt one of the responses was something like, "Oh, come on! You're saying that God was there in that little baby?"

            Yes! That's exactly what we're saying. Emmanuel! God is with us! You would think God would do something much more grandiose. We have no trouble imagining God when we think of thunder and lightning and mighty waves and nations rising and falling. But there is also power - and in some ways even more profound power - to be found in the helplessness of a tiny little baby in a manger. If you don't believe that a little baby has the power to totally overturn a household, then I know some young parents you should talk to. But a tiny little baby does more than overturn your household; a tiny little baby can overturn your heart. And that's what the baby-of-Bethlehem wants to do; it's about love, and some say love is the most powerful force of all.

            God could have overpowered us; he could have tom the sky open and shocked and awed us. But all that does is change the balance of power; it doesn't change anybody's heart, or anybody's way of thinking. All it does is rule by fear. And God didn't want fear; God didn't want violence and power. God wanted to touch hearts, to change lives, not by violence, but by the most profound change agent the world knows - the power of love. In this world, there are few things that tug the heart like a little baby.

            Probably in every age of history, wherever there are people who are allowed to think and talk freely, God is one of the first topics. And it is no different today. Today we have former believers in God who are now atheists writing books and making children's movies. We have former atheists who are now believers writing books and sharing their testimony on talk shows. We have politicians giving statements about what God wants them to do of they're elected. We have conservatives in every faith saying that if we don't believe their way, God will punish us; we have liberals claiming exactly the same. Great lecture halls ring with debates about the meaning of scriptures, and which interpretations are truly carrying the light of God. We have nations attacking nations in the name of God; armed vigilantes carrying out what they see as divine missions. Every human abomination imaginable is carried out in the name of God.

            And with all those voices, and all those forces, and all those arguments pulling at us and vying for our attention and our devotion and our vote and our dollar - how do we know what is true? How do we sort it all out?

            As complicated as it all sounds, I still don't believe it is that hard. You choose love. Both Matthew and Luke want us to know that Christ came as a baby - not as a king, or a warrior, or a political or religious leader. A baby just comes to love and be loved. So when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength." "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Love your enemy." Love the poor and forgotten ones.

            If you're confused about who speaks for God, or which doctrine is true, or which church or religious leader to follow - one question can sort a lot out: Is it loving? Does it embrace people rather than turn them away? Does it affirm people rather than attacking them? Does it lift people out of the poverty of soul and body, rather than make their burden heavier, or ignore them? And does it overturn your life for the sake of making you a messenger of love rather than judgment and violence? You can have a lot of unanswered questions about God, but choose the path of love, and you will never be far from Him.

            That's what it means to worship a God who would dare come into this world as a little baby named Emmanuel. The arrival of a baby in a household is not a little event. It's not something you spend a few days getting ready for, and then it comes and goes. The arrival of a baby takes months of preparation - maybe even years. People take courses and classes, read books, decorate rooms, have parties, buy furniture, share stories - all to get ready for a baby. I've known people who built additions on their houses, or moved to a bigger place, or changed jobs - all to get ready for a baby. The arrival of a baby changes things forever. Life is turned upside down.

            And I suppose that's what you and I have to decide this Advent. Is the baby coming to your house? If not, then your life can go on pretty much as it was before. You'll hear the Christmas story, and celebrate a little bit, and life will go on same old-same old. And the world will plod along. But if you want something more; if you hope for something new; if you're here this morning because something inside you wants good news of great joy, then Jesus is ready to come to your house. Get ready for big changes. Because you don't dabble in Christianity. Christ came as a baby, and left as a Risen Lord. And either way, same old-same old just won't cut it. Your life will be transformed by love, and you won't act the same, think the same, want the same, work the same.

            Millions throughout the centuries have given their lives - literally and figuratively - to place that Savior at the center of who they are, and have found their worlds transformed by Emmanuel- God with us. What's standing in your way? Money? Pride? Fear? Sin? God has reached out to you in a vulnerable little child, seeking love and welcome in this world. Think of that. Christ is born for you. Will you let the Christ-child enter your world with a transforming love this year?