Difference between revisions of "Sermon for December 24th, 2023"

Revision as of 20:16, 23 December 2023

Luke 2:7-20 (NT p. 58)

7And she (Mary) 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.

Shepherds & Angels - Environmentally Messy

One day, God called down to Moses and said, “I’ve got good news and bad news, Moses. Which do you want first? Moses replied, “Most merciful Lord, please give me the good news first.”

“Well, Moses, the good news is that I’ve chosen YOU to deliver my people from bondage,” God answered. “I will force Pharaoh to release my children by causing years of pestilence in Egypt. There will be plagues of locusts and frogs and inconceivable devastation upon the land. Pharaoh’s armies will chase you as you try to leave, but do not fear because I will part the waters of the Red Sea to aid in your escape.”

“And the bad news, Lord?” Moses inquired. God answered, “I'm afraid you're going to have to prepare the environmental impact statement.”

For the past three weeks, we've been talking about the first Christmas, and how it wasn't quite as peaceful and serene as depicted in most nativity scenes. We've talked about how Mary & Joseph found themselves in a socially messy situation; then how Herod and the Wise Men got into a politically messy situation; then last week through our children's pageant we had an actual demonstration of just how chaotic and messy the nativity was (I'm just kidding--they were great, and it was sweet!). Today, I'm going to talk about how the first Christmas was environmentally messy--what that means, and what it means for us today.

When I say environmentally messy--I don't mean that Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus somehow contributed to climate change and global warming (although, who knows? Maybe some of the cows did?).