Sermon for December 24th, 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. Sickness, disease, death... The rivers will turn to blood and hail will rain down from the sky. Pharaoh’s entire army will chase you over thee land 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 what's the bad news, Lord?” Moses inquired. God paused for a moment and then said... “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 so peaceful and serene as depicted in most nativity scenes. We've talked about how Mary & Joseph found themselves in a socially messy situation when Mary became pregnant; then we talked about 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?). I mean environment in its original sense--what's all around you, what you see, hear, smell, taste and touch.
It's ironic to me that the most enduring image most of us have in our minds of that first Christmas comes from the little nativity scenes we set up in our homes, yards, and churches. You can SEE all the characters, but they are statues--perfectly still, they never move. You can't hear them, and you certainly can't smell them, which is probably a good thing, or else there wouldn't be very many manger scenes.
But if you actually read the story, there's a LOT going on:
Mary is pregnant, so that means her sense of smell is probably heightened: She is surrounded by cows, donkeys, camels, and all their not-so-subtle aromas. If Mary and Joseph were anxious and distressed, there's a good chance the animals sensed that...and jittery animals in turn probably compounded the stress felt by Mary and Joseph.
That's probably right about when the shepherds arrived. Scruffy, curious shepherds not overly concerned with privacy, bringing their noisy, smelly, equally jittery sheep, already spooked by choirs of angels. Wait--did we mention the CHOIRS of Angels--in other words, it's not just one angel quietly floating over the manger. Not even just one choir, but choirs plural!
Whenever someone encounters an angel in the Bible, the first thing the angel has to say is, "don't be afraid." There's probably a reason for that--so imagine thousands of angels filling the skies and belting out their song at full-voice!
Let's also not forget the Bethlehem star that night, which, in order to be bright enough to guide the wise men from afar, would have had to bathe the stable in perpetual daylight. So much for silent, AND so much for night.
Noise pollution. Light pollution. Odor pollution. A literal, environmental mess.
And THAT, my friends, is precisely WHERE and WHEN and HOW the Son of God, the prince of peace, the savior of humanity, CHOSE to finally arrive into the world that he, along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, had created together aeons ago.
God, who sees all, knows all, and has the power to do whatsoever he pleases--God intentionally CHOSE...a mess.
Think about that when you're desperately cleaning your house for family and friends to come over this holiday season. God didn't choose the clean house...he chose the messy one.
Think about that when your dog is barking, your baby's crying, the oven timer is beeping (because the Christmas cookies are burning) and the smoke detector is about to start shrieking...
Remember: God didn't choose the quiet house. He chose the noisy one. And then he made it even more noisy.
Think about that when you're desperately trying to bathe and groom and dress your children for that perfect holiday photo... OR (frankly) when you're desperately trying to get them out the door and into the car to come to the candlelight service tonight, pretending like you have your act together, like you weren't screaming, swearing, and losing your shizzle just 15 minutes before you walked through the church doors.
Remember: God didn't choose the family that had their act together. No, he chose the messy one.
And think about that when
And think about that when you're sitting down t
