Love Came Down at Christmas

Sermon given at Grace UMC 12/20/15

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Scripture Reading:

^KJV  Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. ² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) ⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. ⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. ⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the scripture tells us that suddenly there was a host of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among the people of the earth. And the shepherds having heard this glorious proclamation said let us go down into the place below and see this thing for ourselves. This is the story of that wonderful birth like none other in the history of the world. Rulers and leaders, important and famous people have come and gone and as the generations that remember them perish, so too often are their memories erased from the collective memory of history. But Jesus legacy continues. Let us say that here we are two thousand plus years later and his followers are still many and vibrant. In him we have the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, not just a single prophecy but upwards to 100. The mathematical possibility of one man fulfilling this many prophecies are astronomically impossible and yet he did.

Some years ago I watched one of the dozens of Christmas movies that fill our television sets this time of year. But this one was just a little different. In it, the main character if you will is named, Jess, the son of a wood-worker. We can probably see where this is going already for those who recognize Jess. We hear the story of Christmas several times through the movie. It is a story familiar and yet different. A story we need to hear and to tell.

The story is a familiar one in that we have hear it and read it this time of year in churches and homes all across the world. But tonight I want you to listen as you hear the story for the first time. God the creator, all powerful and mighty, looked down upon the creation of the world and noticed that the three most important things he had taught it in the beginning were missing. First of all there was a deep loss of hope in the world. As God looked down upon the people of the earth, he noticed that people were growing more distant from one another. God noticed that they seemed to share less and less of their time and the gifts that they had been given with each other. There seemed to be in the world more heartbreak, more illness and more people struggling with every day things. And they weren’t smiling anymore. And more importantly, they weren’t helping each other nor were they lifting their voices up to God. And so God determined that something needed to be done, something only God could do. That is, to bring hope back into the world.

And as he looked down upon his creation he noticed also that there wasn’t faith in the world like it used to be. Oh, he knew that faith had risen and fallen in the history of the world as the people were obedient and then disobedient. But now it seemed somehow different. It was becoming more distant. Every day less and less prayers were being lifted up to him and every day behaviors became more erratic and dysfunctional. It would seem that the meaning of creation was becoming lost on the people on the earth. And it was that meaning that allowed each and every person to appreciate and acknowledge why they were in the world in the first place. If something soon was not done to prevent this flow away from faith, the world might truly be lost and then what. He had promised Noah that he would not ever again wash away the peoples of the earth in a flood. But as a parent he could not sit idly by and do nothing. And so he began to fulfill the plan that he had put in place since the beginning of the world. A plan he had shared with the prophets of old. A plan that just might be the thing to bring faith back into the world!

Paul says that in the end three things remain faith hope and love. And that the greatest of these is love! And we know that God so loved the world that he brought his only son into the world that we might know these three things. And so God began to the fulfillment of his plan. He chose a simple young Hebrew girl. A young girl full of faith and obedience! And he chose her to do something magnificent and yet place her very life in chaos and jeopardy. And he chose a man of incredible character. How else would you describe a man who would marry the mother of someone else’s child and bear the anger and resentment of family and friends for doing so? It’s funny if you think about it. God could have brought his son in the world in a loud and magnificent way. He could have opened the heavens and allowed Jesus to walk from them into our lives. But then, would we have found the three things he needed us to find? He chose instead to bring his son into the world in a place of animals, a manger. And those who would hear about it and see this blessed event were the lowest of those in society in that day. No God is smart. God is brilliant. God is full of wisdom. God chose to do it this way so that we would know that this son of God was for us. God chose to do it this way that we might appreciate and understand God’s love for us.

As we gather here this morning, we realize that it is not about Christmas trees, presents under the tree or even the decorations in this church and our homes. And it was never about the commercial hustle and bustle that we struggled with over the last two months. It was never about “Black Friday” or about making sure that our economy is strengthened by our spending. In a way, those who would do away with the celebration we currently call Christmas might do us a favor. It might well allow us to reclaim what the day which begins in a few short moments really means. Imagine for a moment that instead of waking up on Christmas Day and sharing time with family, opening presents and eating the Christmas meal, we walked out into the streets and hugged one another. We reached out into the streets and gave each other food and shelter and clothing. What would it be like if this Christmas morning, we baked a cake, place the one name above all names on it and as a people, black and white, Asian and European, Muslim and Jew, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus? And in doing so we found hope in the story of love that came down at Christmas from God above. And we again began to have faith in the God of creation, redemption and resurrection. Paul was right you know. In the end these are the only things that matter. And the best of these is love. Happy Birthday Jesus!