December 24 & 25, 2014: Birth of Jesus & the Visit of the Shepherds

Luke 2:1-14, [15-20]

 In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. ² This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. ³ Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. ⁴ Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. ⁵ He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. ⁷ She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.

⁸ Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. ⁹ The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰ The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. ¹¹ Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. ¹² This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” ¹³ Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

¹⁵ When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” ¹⁶ They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. ¹⁸ Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. ²⁰ The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

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There I was, driving down the freeway, looking for the right exit.  I was on a tight schedule and missing my turn-off had the potential to be disastrous to my carefully planned day.  Just when I thought I had missed it and gone too far, I saw a familiar sign out of the corner of my eye: “Washington Street.”  In split second I was in the exit lane, and in the blink of an eye, I was off the freeway. It was only then that I noticed I was on “Worrington Avenue.”

There are times when we are under a great deal of stress and amid a plenty of distractions, and because of this we completely miss important details. This can certainly happen at this time of year!  Surrounded by parties, plans, presents, and pictures; preoccupied with all sorts of details pertaining to this season, our minds sail right past this story, or at least some key details in it.  When hearing or reading a story like this, it’s important to pause every now and then, to see what’s going on.

Let’s pause almost before we get started. Verses one and two of this reading introduce some “movers and shakers” in the ancient world: the Emperor of the Roman Empire and a Provincial Governor of that Empire.  The mention of their names is significant for two reasons: first to put the birth Jesus’ within a certain historical context and, second, it helps remind us that Jesus’ ministry will truly change the world.  How many devoted followers of Augustus are there out there? Run into any Quirinius Fan Clubs lately? And yet over one third of the world’s population today is named after the baby born in obscurity and laid in a manger. 

Our next pause comes with the very first words from the “Lord’s angel:” “DON’T BE AFRAID!” There are plenty of depictions of angels that show them as cute little babies with wings.  Angels in the Bible, however, are powerful and imposing figures who will make you quake in your shoes (or sandals).  It is no coincidence that the first words out of most angels who appear in the New Testament are “Don’t be afraid!” That is quite possibly be because a person’s natural reaction to seeing such an overwhelming figure is absolute terror. It’s as if an angel appears, has people cringe, hide or shout out in fear, and then say, “I get that a lot.”

And one other pause: verse 18 says that “Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them.” I’m sure that included Mary and Joseph as well. Can you imagine what the last few days have been like for them? Trying to make their way through a strange (to them) town, placing their newborn son in a manger…and now there are strange people who approach them with news of angels.  Notice that Mary and Joseph don’t get to see or hear the angels: they get the story from the shepherds.  That first Christmas must have been an overwhelming time indeed.

When we hear familiar stories from the Bible, whether it be David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Jesus teaching about the Good Samaritan or Prodigal Son, or this well-known story of Jesus’ birth, it’s very important to go SLOWER than usual.  Who knows what we might miss?

December 21, 2014: Jesus as Immanuel

Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly.

 ²⁰ As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

²³ Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,
        And they will call him, Emmanuel.^[a]

(Emmanuel means “God with us.”)

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

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Pastor and Professor Fred Craddock has written a sermon on this lesson that simply can’t be beat. I was tempted to type out the entire thing, word-for-word, but ultimately decided against it. It would take a long time and there are these tricky things called copyrights…  Craddock talks about the dilemma that Joseph finds himself in: the woman he is set to marry has just become pregnant.  He knows it’s not his child, so something bad has happened.

Craddock says that Joseph has two options, “First, he could get the opinion of people in town…Go to the coffee shop, ‘What do you think I ought to do?’…Spread it everywhere, spread it everywhere.”  But he won’t do that.  Second, “some friends just fresh from the synagogue who say, ‘Just do what the Bible says. You can’t go wrong if you do what the Bible says.” What about that for an answer? I have heard that all my life.  ‘Just do what the Bible says.’ Well, I will tell you what the Bible says. From Deuteronomy 22: ‘She is to be taken out and stoned in front of the people.” That is what the Bible says.”

Craddock says that the Bible can justify just about anything if you read it a certain way.  That’s scary.

Joseph won’t do that either.  It says that he is a righteous, or right-related, stand-up guy.  Instead of having Mary killed, Craddock says “Joseph is a good man, and he rises to a point that is absolutely remarkable for his day and time. He loves his Bible and he knows his Bible and bless his heart for it.  But he reads his Bible through a certain kind of lens, the lens of the character and nature of a God who is loving and kind….where does it say that, Joseph? In your Bible? I’ll tell you where it says that. It says that in the very nature and character of God.”

Maybe you have been in a position like Joseph, where there is a tough decision to be made and you don’t know which way to turn.  Maybe you feel wronged and things seem to be all up-in-the-air.  If you are looking for a way to go, if you are looking for guidance, always look to the nature and character of God that is compassionate: it makes an excellent lens with which to view the world.

And, just like Joseph, we get to experience something amazing.  Out of a difficult and dangerous situation God shows up.  The angel who tells Joseph to marry Mary says that the child will be known as Emmanuel, which means GOD WITH US.  It was all crazy, a scandal and certainly not what anyone expected.

But again and again we’ll find that’s how God works.

NOTE: The sermon quoted above can be found in: The Collected Sermons of Fred B. Craddock. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Know Press, 2011), 62-67.

December 14, 2014: Light to the Nations

Isaiah 42:1-9

But here is my servant, the one I uphold;
    my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon him;
    he will bring justice to the nations.
² He won’t cry out or shout aloud
    or make his voice heard in public.
³ He won’t break a bruised reed;
    he won’t extinguish a faint wick,
    but he will surely bring justice.
⁴ He won’t be extinguished or broken
    until he has established justice in the land.
The coastlands await his teaching.

⁵ God the Lord says—
    the one who created the heavens,
    the one who stretched them out,
    the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
    the one who gave breath to its people
    and life to those who walk on it—
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
    I will grasp your hand and guard you,
    and give you as a covenant to the people,
    as a light to the nations,
⁷     to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
    and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
⁸ I am the Lord;
    that is my name;
    I don’t hand out my glory to others
        or my praise to idols.
⁹ The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
    but I’m declaring new things.
    Before they even appear,
    I tell you about them.

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Have you ever waited on something really, REALLY important?  I remember as a kid waiting for the appointed time when a friend or family member from far away was supposed to arrive.  I’d walk by the window countless times, hoping to see their car approach.  I’d look at the clock again and again, willing the hands to move faster.  And while I twiddled my thumbs and paced around, I usually imagined the amazing things that would soon be happening.  Games, laughs, great food…you name it. I’d run it over again and again in my head.  When appointed time came and their car…sooner or later…arrived, I was practically spilling over with excitement.

When our scripture for today was written, the people of God were still in exile, waiting and hoping to go home.  The words of Isaiah were meant to bring them consolation as they waited for a return to their homeland the way I’d wait for the appointed time when a friend or relative was supposed to arrive.   Here in particular we get a description of a ‘servant’ who will come. This servant will set things right.  Isaiah 42 paints a very vivid picture indeed and it must have made the original hearers thrill at the thought of the coming justice and salvation.

As a matter of fact there are four “servant songs” and they paint a very vivid picture indeed. The servant will bring forth justice, have a mouth like a sharp sword, a tongue like a teacher, and also suffer for many other people, bearing their “iniquities” or sins.

There are two levels of meaning to these “servant songs:” biblical scholars generally agree that the “servant” mentioned here was originally meant to refer to the entire nation of Israel.  Israel as a people would be bring justice to the nations, etc.  But early Christians, especially those who wrote the New Testament, saw Jesus in these songs. Chances are the original author of these verses, hundreds of years before Jesus, didn’t sit down and say “Hmmm….someday this guy named Jesus will be born, so I had better write something about it to give people hope in the meantime.”  Does this mean it’s “wrong” to see Jesus here? Not at all!

For Christians then and now…Jesus adds another layer of meaning to what is being said here in Isaiah.  Think of it this way: we add different layers of meaning to things all of the time!  Words will take on different meanings as times change: as one of my professors in seminary pointed out, when Saint Paul says that he had been ‘stoned’ for the gospel, that didn’t mean he had used marijuana…it meant he had had rocks hurled at him.  Words and concepts and songs all take on different layers of meanings.  It’s the same way with these words.

Having read the lesson above once, why not take the time to read it again. This time think of Jesus and see how well these verses describe him and his ministry.  Do you see Jesus here? Where else do you see him, active and alive in the world today?