Luke 2:1-20
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
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we believe in a God who transcends time and space. This sermon was originally preached in a certain time and place for a certain community, but I hope that it might have a word to share with you here. You can read the transcript below or listen to the unedited recording of the sermon at this link.
Let us pray. God who chooses to be with us, to live among us, and put on flesh— remind us of this radical act of love for your people and help us to listen to those who proclaim it. Amen.
What brings you here, to this place today? What brings you here? Have you come to see the Messiah? Are you here to experience the birth of a long-awaited and promised king?
Are you driven by curiosity, and you’re here to see for yourself if the good news is true? Are you here by routine, because this is what you always do for Christmas?
What brings you here today? Are you forced to be present at the nativity, by coercion or guilt or appeasement of a loved one? Why are you here?
There is very little doubt as to what this service is about. And who it is that we are waiting for and why we are celebrating today.
Perhaps you know this story by heart, or at least parts of it— the parts of it that have been captured by the most popular songs and hymns on the radio. It’s the story we know because it has been told and retold in movies and children’s plays. For the most part, we know about the census, stable, the bands of cloth, the manger, and shepherds.
Christianity has been at the forefront of this country long enough that even if you weren’t raised in the Christian tradition, there’s a good chance you know what Christmas is all about.
Even in this past week, I thought “oh this is the story everyone knows. With the shepherds and angels, blah blah blah.” Seriously. I thought “blah blah blah” about this story. The story that we read every Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. But that’s how familiar we are with this story. At a certain point, we must wonder— why do we keep coming back each Christmas to hear it again?
Perhaps that *is* the lure for us. As our world continues to be unpredictable year after year, as our lives become disrupted by the next gadget or pandemic or crisis or natural disaster, we are desperately searching for something that feels familiar. We long to cling to a piece of the story that doesn’t change, that won’t ever change. Perhaps that’s why we come back year after year to hear this story again and again.
My fear is that this story has become so familiar to most of us that we don’t really listen anymore. Think about it again… when the gospel was read, did you really listen to the story? Did you catch all of the details?
Did you hear that God doing something new?
Did you hear God being quietly subversive in the midst of this familiar story?
Did you hear our surprising God doing something unexpected?
Everything about the incarnation and the nativity is new, subversive, wild, and exactly what we should always expect of our unmovable and unchanging God. Everything about Christmas is exactly what we should expect from God.
Perhaps that is what makes this story feel less wild to us. We have an entire history of God lifting up the youngest, the lowly, the forgotten, the ones that the world would shun. We have an entire anthology of stories that we call the Bible that is about God doing this very thing throughout history… surprising God’s people with newness, with better, with liberation and freedom. This is what God has always done, this is what God did in the the birth of Christ Jesus, and this is what God continues to do today.
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The very fact that God chose to come into this world to be among us at all is absolutely mind-boggling. But if we listen closely, we can hear how each part of this story is revolutionary.
God chose a nobody family from a no-where town. An unwed young woman and her fiancé. God chose scandal right at the first inklings of the incarnation. God chose the body of a tiny, vulnerable baby instead of the body of mighty warrior. God chose to be here among the animals, to sleep in a manger. To be with the outsiders in a strange city.
God chose shepherds, the dirtiest, smelliest, lowliest of the working class to be the first to witness the newborn king. They would be the messengers who begin spreading the good news to the entire world. And the people believed them and they were amazed.
Again and again, God surprises us by using the lowliest, the dirtiest, the forgotten, the youngest, and the ones that the rest of society would so often shun to bring the good news of Christ Jesus into the world. That is God’s subversive, incredible, grace-filled message this day— that God continues to work through these people today. The real question is whether or not we will listen.
Will we hear what God is saying in the story of Christ’s birth? Will we believe the young unwed family asking for help? Will we be surprised and amazed by the love God outpours in the very act of coming into this world as a tiny baby? Will we listen to the shepherds who proclaim this good news and be reminded of God’s devotion to even those we have forgotten? Will we read this story one more time and be prepared for what God is doing next?
Because, dear ones, what God is doing next is going to surprise even those of us who are most familiar with this story. What God is doing next is going to be even more wonderful and holy than we could ever imagine. What God is doing next will be exactly like the first Christmas morning— altogether wild and unpredictable and it will completely change the world. So let’s continue to come back to listen to this familiar story that we might be prepared for what God does next. Amen.
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