Luke 2:1-14 Christmas Eve

You know, when I read the Christmas story, I can’t help but think, “No God! You got it all wrong!” I figure the best way for you all to understand what I mean is for me to share the conversation I had with God in my head:

First you chose a teenager in all her inexperience and rebellion to be the mother of Jesus. I wouldn’t have done it that way. I would have chosen someone more mature, someone with more experience, but not her.

And then you make them go to Bethlehem on a donkey when Mary is 9 months pregnant?!! What were you thinking?! Don’t you think it would have been nice for the Holy Mother to rest and relax and be pampered a bit before labor?! I mean, labor is hard enough on it’s own, let alone when you’re in a new city, away from your family, after a long and arduous trip. I mean, it seems a bit inconsiderate to me.

And then she has to deliver the baby in a stable with animals! Come on! I mean, you can align the stars, and design the most awesome scenes on earth and even managed to create a baby without sperm, which is super impressive, and you couldn’t swing a room for Mary and Joseph?! I mean, you help people get a parking space….a parking space!!! And you can’t muster a room for the King of kings?! You’ve gotta be kidding.

This whole scene is just wrong in every way. This is definitely not how I would have done it. You really should have been more considerate, and probably consulted with me or someone…we could have helped hammer out the details for you.

And the rest of this passage---I mean, the heavenly host was a nice touch. Really, that was a nice effect. I don’t think I’d change that—the Son of God should be announced by angels, that’s fitting. But the shepherds?! I personally don’t have anything against shepherds, but you and I both know that they were like lower than low back in the day. And they’re the first ones you chose to meet your Son?! Let’s think about this for a minute, who’s gonna care what a shepherd says?! They don’t have any power, no respect, everyone’s just going to ignore them. So why them?

Where’s the triumphant entry into the world? The bells? The whistles? The kings and kingdoms? Where are the adoring believers?

Why didn’t you do something more impressive for your own son?! Millie Cyrus had a birthday party bigger than what happened for Jesus….isn’t that awkward for you?

This is so not how I would have done things. You know, I kind of get the sense that you’re a wise guy…you like irony or something. Which is cool, I guess…I mean, I like it too, but for the birth of your Son? Is that really the place for irony?

Ok….so maybe it’s less of a conversation and more of a diatribe…but I think you get the point. I’m a little skeptical about how God did all these things. I mean, it is God we’re talking about and I would bet most of us assume God can do pretty big things, and yet, this is all we get for the birth of the Messiah.

But after I take a step back, I start to see things a little more clearly.

Think about it. If Jesus had come into the world Hollywood style, all of us “normal” folk would have seen how, yet again, greatness is just beyond our reach. I mean, we can have the Hollywood fantasy of fame and fortune, perfect abs and amazing hair, and the ideal wardrobe and home, but that’s all it is a fantasy. Now, maybe one or two of you have been keeping secrets and you played for the NBA and made millions or you starred in a major motion picture that I just haven’t seen yet, but I’m going to venture that the rest of us are pretty much everyday people. So if Christ had come in some idyllic situation, he’d have been forever at arm’s length—never quite close enough for us to reach.

Let’s just do a quick survey: How many of you spend your Friday nights with

· Jack Nicholson?

· Denzel Washington?

· Kobe Bryant?

· Michelle Pfeifer?

· Julia Roberts?

· No?

· Hmmm…How about Arnold Schwarzenegger?

· The Kennedys?

Ok…so we have normal lives. We don’t live an ideal life. We might live a good life—but it’s not ideal, right?!

Let’s do another survey?

· Anyone have financial struggles?

· Anyone been sick?

· Anyone struggle with the way their body looks in the mirror?

· Anyone have regrets?

· Anyone fight depression?

· Anyone miss a loved one who’s died?

· Anyone have family drama?

· Stress?

· Worries?

· Self-doubt?

That’s our reality. We struggle. We sometimes succeed and we sometimes fail. We love and we hate. We live in the actual seasons of life. We live the reality not the fantasy.

So when we see Jesus in the midst of hardship, alienation, distress, and poverty, we know he’s real. He’s not a comic book superhero with super human strength who feels no pain. He’s not in a fantasy world—he’s in our world—broken and battered and betrayed. And when he becomes real to us—when we see him as one of us—trudging through ridicule and gossip, and no vacancy signs, and his mom working until the last minute of delivery because there are things that simply need to happen—we see one of us.

And that’s the thrust of Christmas—God become one of us. God didn’t become a fantasy man living in an idealized world. God became one of us—living in the chaos of humanity. In the person of Christ God became real.

That’s the amazing truth of Christmas—that God chose to be real to us and real with us. God is tangible—touchable and knowable--in Jesus. God stops being aloof and removed when God enters our world and puts on flesh. You can know God in the person of Jesus Christ. You can talk to God without reservations or fears or bumbling over your words because Jesus is real—he’s one of us, he’s like us and there’s comfort in that.

Luke 1:26-38

Now normally we hear this passage with calm reverence admiring the goodness and faithfulness of Mary to be chosen for such a purpose…all good and well. Unfortunately, we’ve heard the story so many times that we think, “Oh yeah, of course.” But let’s think about this for a bit.

Think about your teenage daughter, or niece, or granddaughter. Picture her in your mind. Think about her room, which is probably a pig sty, the way she scoffs at you and rolls her eyes if you suggest any wisdom or advice. The half-hearted way she does her chores, and the hours she spends doing her hair and make-up or talking on the phone or chatting online. Can you see her? Now, imagine God chose her to be the mother of the Son of God.

What’s the first thing that runs through your head? (ASK PEOPLE).

1.

2.

3.

Are you confident about her readiness to raise a child in general?

Sure of her parenting skills?

Convinced she’s faithful enough to raise God’s Son?

Oh, no?!?

Ok….good….now you’re starting to understand the story a little better.

Granted, women of Mary’s day would have married earlier than we do and so some of the details would have been more culturally appropriate, but still, I hope you can see how incongruent these details are.

Now, I have no doubt Mary was a wonderful young woman and that’s why God chose her, but as far as we know she wasn’t exemplary in any specific way. She wasn’t a seasoned mother of 8 who had this child rearing thing down. She was a bride to be who had no children yet. She wasn’t a scribe in training, she wouldn’t have been allowed to read or teach. We assume she was a faithful Jew, but don’t know that for sure and definitely don’t know if she stood out in any way.

But there she is-this unknown, unremarkable teenage girl chosen to bear the Son of God. That’s weird!!!

So this unknown, unremarkable, teenage girl is chosen and told she found favor with God and that God would come upon her and she would conceive a son and he would be named Jesus. Oh yeah, normal enough! This story is bizarre. Now, we can’t read this text and not deal with the virgin birth. I know you all have thought some of these questions, if not asked them out-loud, so I’m going to just say them so we know we’re on a similar page wondering about this whole virgin birth thing.

So, when it says, “came upon her”—what exactly does that mean? And how does that happen? ‘Cause I mean really, we all know our basic biology…. 1/2 chromosomes from mom, and ½ from Dad…and 9 months later you get a baby. Right?! So, this ½ from Mary….we can follow that, but then that ½ from God part….that’s a stumper. How did that work?! In seminary they had a real fancy term for it: A MYSTERY!! Profound, right?! Yep, that was Dr. Lewis Ayer’s favorite answer: It’s a mystery. Gee, thanks Dr. Ayers. You really helped to clear that one up! The trinity—three in one, the virgin birth, fully human, fully divine, all mysteries. Well, now I can sleep at night!

That has to be the most confounding parts of the whole Christmas story—how on earth did the virgin birth happen?! And the answer is: _____________________ (It’s a mystery!)

Very good. Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can go back to the logistics of this teen girl being pregnant before being with Joseph.

Now, I don’t know how well your know the biblical laws, but I’m pretty sure most of you know adultery is not allowed, and I’m going to guess that many of you know that Mary being pregnant before she was with Joseph would have constituted adultery, which was not good news for a woman. She would have brought shame on her whole family and would be unfit to marry anyone, and if no one would take her as a wife, that would mean she would be an outcast and a burden on her family forever.

It’s a lose, lose, lose situation.

And yet, that was her reward for finding “favor” with God.

I know, I know, we know the rest of the story—that her son went on to die and be resurrected and through that he saves us from sin and death…I’m not trying to deny the significance of any of that, but Mary didn’t know all that and her friends and family and gossiping neighbors definitely didn’t know all that. So there wouldn’t have been compassion and understanding from anyone.

But still, she found favor with God, even though she has to face one of the most trying social situations possible…including possible stoning?!

Sure makes you want to find favor with God, doesn’t it?!?

I mean really, when you hear the word “favor” what do you think of? (not needing a favor, but finding favor)…

(ASK PEOPLE)

1.

2.

3.

Exactly. Good stuff. Added bonuses. Answered prayers. Joyful hearts. That’s what I’d be banking on and instead Mary gets an unplanned pregnancy by inexplicable father for a child who will what…?? Oh yeah, rule forever.

Cake walk! I mean if the teenager selected to be the mother of the son of God weren’t enough, how about this: He’s gonna rule forever!

Well, that’s cool and all, but let’s talk about parenting for a moment, shall we?

Admittedly, I’m not a parent, but I work with a lot of youth and parents and one thing I’ve garnered is it’s no easy feat. Parenting takes work—heck, having a youth for two hours during youth group takes work and they often behave better for us than they will for you….so I can only imagine how tough it is to have them full-time!

And, from various parents I know—young and old, new and veteran, there are often a number of doubts:

Am I doing a good job?

Have I taught him enough?

Did I give her enough independence? Did I give her too much?

Did I mess them up? Are we going to end up on Oprah one day talking about what a horrible parent I was?!

Anybody had these doubts?

No? Yeah, I figured probably not, it must be that my friends are insecure…that’s it.

Parenting is a huge task! Probably even more difficult than marriage, which is tough enough on its own. Now, think of this—you’re not just supposed to raise your child to be a decent human being, who is successful and generally does right by others, but you’re supposed to raise your child, who just happens to be God’s Son, to rule FOREVER.

Now, it might be that I lack self-confidence, but that seems kind of daunting to me. Talk about a tough road to hoe. I’m almost 30 and I have doubts about being able to raise children well and successfully, let alone a child who is meant to rule forever. And I’m twice as old as Mary would have been and have taken children’s psychology and development and have worked with kids for more than half my life! And I’m still overwhelmed at the thought of it.

This finding favor with God deal is HUGE. And I’m not sure I’m convinced….let’s break it down: find favor with God, get to see an angel…very cool, rewarded with an unplanned pregnancy by an inexplicable father, which might just win you death by stoning…not so cool, and being responsible for raising the Son of God, who will rule forever…mind-blowing. So, finding favor with God means you get to be part of amazing things, but it also means facing incredible obstacles and being challenged by tasks just this much bigger than you thought you were capable of!

Now, I’m not saying I don’t want to find favor with God…definitely not saying that. I do want to find favor with God. But I am saying we should read this scripture casually. I am saying we shouldn’t gloss over the details. We have to understand how huge this was—not just for God becoming human, which is incredible on its own, but for what it meant in Mary’s life. God didn’t choose some overly confident, veteran mom, who trained in the synagogues on the weekends. He chose your teenage daughter, in all of her immaturity and inexperience to do one of the most inconceivable things humanly possible. God met Mary in her vulnerability. God met Mary in her naiveté. God met Mary in her doubts and fears. And God stayed with her. God didn’t come down like a stork delivering a baby and then rushing off to the next new mom, God stayed with her so she could do this. And when God comes to us, when God meets us in the middle of our inexperience, our fears, and our doubts, God stays with us too. God does not call us to an impossible task only to leave us there and watch us fail; God calls us to the impossible and walks with us, so we can be even more convinced of God’s faithfulness and power.

Mark 13:24-37

Preaching at Christmas is kind of odd because we always tell the same stories. I struggle because I like to say thing that are novel and interesting and it’s hard to do that when there’s only 4 or 5 stories and they’ve been told millions of times. There’s the annunciation—Gabriel telling Mary she will have a baby. The angel telling Joseph the same thing. Mary’s trip to see Elizabeth. The walk to Bethlehem for the census. The struggle to find a room at the inn, and the birth of Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re good stories, but you can only add so much that is new and different from last time. As a preacher it’s sort of daunting. You must have heard these stories 100s of times and I’m supposed to say something new? Every year I have this same struggle, and every year, I come back to the same answer—keep it simple, the story speaks for itself. I don’t need to say anything radically new, because God’s profound love for the world is still a radical idea. It may have been preaching a billion times, but there are still people who haven’t heard the story, or who don’t really understand it. The story simply needs to be told and retold and it will speak for itself.

I mean, when you think about it, there’s something special about a really good story that allows it to be told again and again, even if it’s nothing new. My dad went to Boot Camp for the National Guard under Nixon. He has lots of stories to tell and we beg him to share them again and again. He’s reluctant to keep repeating them because we’ve already heard them, but we love them and we insist. He has one about the day he arrived that is a particular favorite.

All the guys showed up to camp in big trucks. They got off and waited for their names to be called. The sergeant called their names and their assignment so they could group up. At one point, he called out, “Mungomerry Larry”. No one moved. “Mungomerry Larry.” Still nothing. So he moved on, “Smith, Christopher.” “Allen, Marvin,” on and on, and then again, “Mungomerry Larry”. Still no one. Finally, all the guys but one had been called and had their stuff. As my dad tells it, you did not want to be “the one guy” in any situation at boot camp. So, this poor guy was standing there probably mortified and the sergeant walked up to him and said, “What’s your name?” “Larry Montgomery, Sir.” “That’s what I’ve been saying, “Mungomerry, Larry.” I’m not sure why I love that story so much, but I do and I could hear my dad tell it 1000 times and it wouldn’t get old.

I think the Christmas stories are like that—we can hear them 1000 times and they don’t get old. There’s something incredible about God choosing a young teenage women, waiting to be married, to carry the Son of God in her womb. Not a queen. Not a duchess. Not someone rich and powerful, but someone meek, poor, and lowly. She was God’s choice. Something about God choosing such a woman, gives me hope, should give us all hope, that God can choose us to act, despite our flaws, despite our inexperience, despite our status. God can choose you. God could entrust you to care for, nurse, teach, and rear God’s own self. That’s a story worth retelling.

God came into the world out of love to save us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God didn’t come out of anger. God didn’t come to smite us. God didn’t come to castigate and punish us. God came to save us. God came because God loves us. And that’s a truth worth retelling.

For many of us we’ve heard the stories already. We know Jesus was born already. We’ve accepted Jesus and asked that we be born of the spirit already. We are familiar with Christmas and we know Jesus. We know that God has redeemed the world through Jesus already. He already died on the cross. He already rose again. He already offered us eternal life. All of this has happened already.

For many of us, we’ve begun a life with Christ already, but for some of us, it’s yet to happen. There are many who do not yet know Jesus or the hope he offers, or what it feels like to be from the shackles of guilt and shame, anger and revenge. There are those who are still waiting. There are many who struggle under the weight of darkness, who don’t yet know the light of Christ. For them, though Christmas time comes and goes each year, they haven’t yet experienced Christmas. They haven’t experienced the Incarnation—God in the flesh. For them, Christmas has not yet come. It’s not yet real. It may be imagined, but it hasn’t been lived.

There are those this season who live with expectancy for the return of hope, light, joy, and peace. Those who have lived it time and again and are anxious to relive the memories. And others who have only heard about it. They know about it—they have head knowledge, but they don’t really get it--they don’t have heart knowledge.

Today I want to offer an invitation to have heart knowledge. If you haven’t asked Jesus to live in your heart, to be Lord of your life, to forgive your sins, to free you from the guilt or shame of your past, I want you to have that opportunity today. There may be others of you who have experienced Christ’s love, but you feel distanced from it. I want you to have the opportunity to get close to the feet of Jesus and be reminded of what it feels like.

Now, I have to be honest, I don’t know how God does what God does. I don’t know how it is we feel freedom, joy, and peace because of Christ. But I do know that it’s possible. I can’t tell you how, but I can tell you I’ve experienced it—in the darkest moments of my life, God has shined light and has filled me with hope.

I may not be able to tell you how it happens, but I can tell you why—BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU!!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

God came to the world in the person of Jesus out of love---not out of anger, not out of frustration, not out of disgust for what we were doing, but out of love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. God wants you to receive that love so you can have everlasting life. And not just everlasting life in the sense of some prize we get when we’re dead and we just have to suffer until we get there, but eternal life that offers eternal hope today, eternal life that allows us the chance to become someone better here, eternal life that has the power to reconcile and mend our broken relationship now, eternal life that heals our wounds—physically and emotionally in the present, so that we might fully know the love of God. That’s the life God wants you to have—one filled with hope.

If you want to experience that hope, if you want to really know and understand Christmas this year and God’s gift to you, if you want to experience Christmas as something more than credit card bills, house-cleaning, a matted mess of lights, and trying times with in-laws, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you want to know Christmas as a life-giving event that fills you with hope, frees you from past guilt and shame, and changes your life in ways that are equally inexplicable and amazing, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you’ve lost sight of Christmas and want to be re-focused on God and the hope we have through Jesus Christ, then I want you to come and pray with me at the altar now.

Preaching at Christmas is kind of odd because we always tell the same stories. I struggle because I like to say thing that are novel and interesting and it’s hard to do that when there’s only 4 or 5 stories and they’ve been told millions of times. There’s the annunciation—Gabriel telling Mary she will have a baby. The angel telling Joseph the same thing. Mary’s trip to see Elizabeth. The walk to Bethlehem for the census. The struggle to find a room at the inn, and the birth of Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re good stories, but you can only add so much that is new and different from last time. As a preacher it’s sort of daunting. You must have heard these stories 100s of times and I’m supposed to say something new? Every year I have this same struggle, and every year, I come back to the same answer—keep it simple, the story speaks for itself. I don’t need to say anything radically new, because God’s profound love for the world is still a radical idea. It may have been preaching a billion times, but there are still people who haven’t heard the story, or who don’t really understand it. The story simply needs to be told and retold and it will speak for itself.

I mean, when you think about it, there’s something special about a really good story that allows it to be told again and again, even if it’s nothing new. My dad went to Boot Camp for the National Guard under Nixon. He has lots of stories to tell and we beg him to share them again and again. He’s reluctant to keep repeating them because we’ve already heard them, but we love them and we insist. He has one about the day he arrived that is a particular favorite.

All the guys showed up to camp in big trucks. They got off and waited for their names to be called. The sergeant called their names and their assignment so they could group up. At one point, he called out, “Mungomerry Larry”. No one moved. “Mungomerry Larry.” Still nothing. So he moved on, “Smith, Christopher.” “Allen, Marvin,” on and on, and then again, “Mungomerry Larry”. Still no one. Finally, all the guys but one had been called and had their stuff. As my dad tells it, you did not want to be “the one guy” in any situation at boot camp. So, this poor guy was standing there probably mortified and the sergeant walked up to him and said, “What’s your name?” “Larry Montgomery, Sir.” “That’s what I’ve been saying, “Mungomerry, Larry.” I’m not sure why I love that story so much, but I do and I could hear my dad tell it 1000 times and it wouldn’t get old.

I think the Christmas stories are like that—we can hear them 1000 times and they don’t get old. There’s something incredible about God choosing a young teenage women, waiting to be married, to carry the Son of God in her womb. Not a queen. Not a duchess. Not someone rich and powerful, but someone meek, poor, and lowly. She was God’s choice. Something about God choosing such a woman, gives me hope, should give us all hope, that God can choose us to act, despite our flaws, despite our inexperience, despite our status. God can choose you. God could entrust you to care for, nurse, teach, and rear God’s own self. That’s a story worth retelling.

God came into the world out of love to save us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” God didn’t come out of anger. God didn’t come to smite us. God didn’t come to castigate and punish us. God came to save us. God came because God loves us. And that’s a truth worth retelling.

For many of us we’ve heard the stories already. We know Jesus was born already. We’ve accepted Jesus and asked that we be born of the spirit already. We are familiar with Christmas and we know Jesus. We know that God has redeemed the world through Jesus already. He already died on the cross. He already rose again. He already offered us eternal life. All of this has happened already.

For many of us, we’ve begun a life with Christ already, but for some of us, it’s yet to happen. There are many who do not yet know Jesus or the hope he offers, or what it feels like to be from the shackles of guilt and shame, anger and revenge. There are those who are still waiting. There are many who struggle under the weight of darkness, who don’t yet know the light of Christ. For them, though Christmas time comes and goes each year, they haven’t yet experienced Christmas. They haven’t experienced the Incarnation—God in the flesh. For them, Christmas has not yet come. It’s not yet real. It may be imagined, but it hasn’t been lived.

There are those this season who live with expectancy for the return of hope, light, joy, and peace. Those who have lived it time and again and are anxious to relive the memories. And others who have only heard about it. They know about it—they have head knowledge, but they don’t really get it--they don’t have heart knowledge.

Today I want to offer an invitation to have heart knowledge. If you haven’t asked Jesus to live in your heart, to be Lord of your life, to forgive your sins, to free you from the guilt or shame of your past, I want you to have that opportunity today. There may be others of you who have experienced Christ’s love, but you feel distanced from it. I want you to have the opportunity to get close to the feet of Jesus and be reminded of what it feels like.

Now, I have to be honest, I don’t know how God does what God does. I don’t know how it is we feel freedom, joy, and peace because of Christ. But I do know that it’s possible. I can’t tell you how, but I can tell you I’ve experienced it—in the darkest moments of my life, God has shined light and has filled me with hope.

I may not be able to tell you how it happens, but I can tell you why—BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU!!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

God came to the world in the person of Jesus out of love---not out of anger, not out of frustration, not out of disgust for what we were doing, but out of love. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. God wants you to receive that love so you can have everlasting life. And not just everlasting life in the sense of some prize we get when we’re dead and we just have to suffer until we get there, but eternal life that offers eternal hope today, eternal life that allows us the chance to become someone better here, eternal life that has the power to reconcile and mend our broken relationship now, eternal life that heals our wounds—physically and emotionally in the present, so that we might fully know the love of God. That’s the life God wants you to have—one filled with hope.

If you want to experience that hope, if you want to really know and understand Christmas this year and God’s gift to you, if you want to experience Christmas as something more than credit card bills, house-cleaning, a matted mess of lights, and trying times with in-laws, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you want to know Christmas as a life-giving event that fills you with hope, frees you from past guilt and shame, and changes your life in ways that are equally inexplicable and amazing, then I invite you to come to the altar and pray with me now. If you’ve lost sight of Christmas and want to be re-focused on God and the hope we have through Jesus Christ, then I want you to come and pray with me at the altar now.