Luke 2:1-20

December 24, 2008

Christmas Through the Eyes of … Jesus

The Christmas story never gets old, does it?  Just like Christmas pageants.  I love them.  If you weren’t here this past Sunday, you missed a great one!  Everybody has their own favorite Christmas pageant story – one of mine is the one about this one young boy, about twelve, named Dennis.

Dennis was looking forward to his church’s annual Christmas pageant, because he was finally becoming the right age to play Joseph. He had been playing a donkey or a sheep or some other animal for years, and he thought it was about time he got a speaking part.

Well, the time for rehearsals came around, and sure enough, Dennis got a speaking part, but as the Innkeeper, not as Joseph. Dennis was very disappointed because he really had his heart set on playing Joseph, so he thought up a plan for getting even.

Pageant night arrived. Everything went as rehearsed until Mary and Joseph made their entrance into Bethlehem, looking for lodging. They encountered the innkeeper, played by Dennis, and asked if there was room for them at his inn.

Dennis, who had not forgotten his disappointment at not being picked to play Joseph, replied, “Sure, there’s room for you. Come on in!”

But the little girl playing Mary, remembering full well how the story is supposed to go, said, “Let’s keep looking, Joseph. This place is a dump!”

Don’t you just love it?  And we come here tonight to hear the story told one more time.  We come because Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the singing of Christmas carols, seeing old friends, hearing me preach (okay, maybe that’s not exactly why you all came tonight) and ending our time together by gathering in the courtyard, lighting our candles in memory of the Christ child and singing Silent Night.

As you listened to the Christmas story told through the words of Luke, did you notice that the story is very ordinary … until … the angels arrive?  But when the angels enter, everything changes. The shepherds are terrified. All of that light, all of that glory, and the presence of something incredible.

The first thing out of the angel’s mouth was, “Do not be afraid.” He didn’t launch into any learned theological discourse, no recitation of the Ten Commandments, no complicated statements of doctrine. No, there was nothing “churchy” about it.

What he told the shepherds (and I’m paraphrasing here): “Guys, don’t be afraid. I have some really good news for you … I mean REALLY good news!  You can be filled with joy, everyone can. See, there is a newborn baby. And this baby is the Savior...the Anointed one of God. The Messiah! And, you can find that baby. You can touch, see, and hold that baby.”

Then the Angel Choir couldn’t hold back any more, and they started to sing. Boy, did they ever sing!

Well, when the angels were through singing, the shepherds went and checked it out. And it was exactly the way the angel said it was. Wow!

Can you just imagine being a shepherd and seeing and hearing what they saw and heard?  Incredible – especially for a shepherd. To be a shepherd 20 centuries ago was a not a joyful vocation. Shepherds were outcasts, wanderers in desolate places, disconnected from society, with lives often filled with misery and hopelessness.

God, however was present, surrounding them with a wonderful presence, inviting them to be among the first witnesses to the birth of God’s son. And in that moment they were affirmed as worthy persons and loved by God. They were not forgotten.

Although I don’t think any of you are shepherds, I believe there are still many who feel a real disconnect from the presence of God. Hardships, financial strain, health problems, aloneness or fragile relationships can keep us in darkness. “Where is God in my life?” “Why is it I don’t feel God’s presence?”

I think we can learn a lesson from the shepherds.  Being at the bottom rung of the social ladder and having little to call their own …they could have believed that the whole thing was a hoax … or too much wine. Better to tend to the sheep then run up to Bethlehem and check out the news. Yet they didn’t, did they?  They had faith.

A life of faith requires a response. At any moment God can appear, speak or fill our minds and make His presence known in our lives. When we choose to accept that a guiding light, a joyous sound or a heart-warming sensation is of God, we are responding in faith to the presence of God.

When we brush off such an event as coincidence or deny the impact on our lives, we just might miss the fact that God is in our midst.

“The shepherds went with haste to see what had taken place in Bethlehem.” They didn’t procrastinate or rationalize what was happening. They went and after witnessing the event they shared the good news, “glorifying and praising God.” In other words, they responded to God’s presence with a profound faith. And that’s what God asks of us tonight.

The Christmas story still means now exactly what it meant when it happened. You see, something special has happened. A baby has been born. A Savior. Christ the Lord. And there is room for YOU around his cradle.

In the same way that in our Christmas pageants, there is always room in the Angel Choir for one more child (even if that child acts up in the rehearsal), there is always room for one more soul in God’s love, even if that soul messes up royally in the rehearsal for heaven called life.

I think it is fitting that the shepherds were the first to hear the good news. God’s love is not limited to the rich and famous. God’s love is inclusive. Anyone can be the bearer of God’s love.

Consider the story of a little orphan boy named Misha.

It was nearing the holiday season somewhere, I believe, in Russia.  100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were living in a rundown orphanage. Two Americans were visiting and were given the opportunity to tell these orphans, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas.

They were told about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem, finding no room in the inn, the couple goes to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.

Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Afterwards the children were given three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.

Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins. The children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt.

The orphans were busy assembling their mangers and Mark, one of the American visitors who had been invited to share the story, walked among them to see if anyone needed any help.

All went well until he got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about six-years old and had just finished his project. As Mark looked at the little boy’s manger, he was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. He wondered aloud why there were two babies in the manger.

Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings pretty accurately - until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.

Then Misha started to go a little off point. He made up his own ending to the story. He said, “And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mama and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him.

“But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had, that maybe I could use for a gift.

“I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, ‘If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?’

“Then Jesus told me, ‘If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.’

“So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him - for always.”

As Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed. He had found someone who would never abandon him and be with him always. God’s love is amazing.

The love of God can come to us in the remote places of our lives. There is no place, no circumstance, or person that God’s love can’t reach. The story of Jesus’ birth is reminds us that no one is excluded from the amazing love of God - everyone is loved.

The shepherds were a despised people and yet they were the first to hear the good news. God includes outsiders in His inner circle of love. And God includes Misha … and you … and even me.

That’s what I call Good News!

So how does that make you feel? 

In a Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy is feeling great. He comes dancing into the first frame saying: “Sometimes I love life so much I can’t express it!” He keeps dancing and says: “I feel that I want to take the first person I meet into my arms and dance merrily through the streets.”

Then, into the scene comes grumpy old Lucy. Snoopy freezes, sits and tries to be as inconspicuous as possible. And then in the last frame he’s dancing again and saying: “I feel that I want to take the SECOND person I meet into my arms and dance merrily through the streets.”

Folks, if there was ever a time for dancing, it is at Christmas. The Lord of all the heavens and the earth came into our world as a tiny baby. And the world has never been the same. 

I think that’s cause for celebration, don’t you? And we can celebrate very simply by holding the Christ child in our heart and letting his love be the seasoning of our lives, that re-creates in you and in me His image.

Don’t you feel like dancing?

Amen!