Christmas Eve, 12/24/2014

Sermon on Luke 2:1-20, by Beth A. Schlegel

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph 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. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And 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.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And 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!" 15 When 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." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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Where is God?

The ancients - including the biblical ancients - looked to the vast expanse of the heavens.

They considered the farthest reaches of the universe -- beyond the comprehensible horizon - and there, in the space that enveloped the entire cosmos, was God.

God was located in the unknowable, the unfathomable, the majestic.

And even we, confronted with an expanse of mountains, or a glimpse of the Milky Way on a moonless night, or an image from the Hubble telescope, consider ourselves very small and our Creator as the transcendent Greatness whose depth and breadth we cannot begin to imagine.

And yet, however true this vision of God is, it often becomes domesticated.

We refer to this Greatness euphemistically as "The Man Upstairs". And like the next-door neighbor, we expect this deity to do the equivalent of taking in our mail, receiving packages, and feeding our pets while we are away.

He is to answer our prayers the way we want, control the weather to our advantage, and order the universe for our benefit.

And when it doesn't happen that way, we become disappointed, even disillusioned. Maybe we stop believing God exists at all.

Certainly, we stop relying on such a disappointing deity. If The Man Upstairs won't do what we want, what's the point?

Seldom do we stop to diagnose the problem as lying - not with the proverbial Man Upstairs -- not with God - but with us who have put ourselves at the center of the universe.

And now we come to the heart of the matter.

When we put ourselves at the center of the universe, for the universe to serve us and our desires,

We have put ourselves in the place where God truly belongs.

And in so doing, we have lost our way, lost our identity, and lost our purpose.

We are, to put it bluntly, condemned to the uttermost depths of our own narcissism.

And the sad thing is, that we often don't even realize that we are so deep in the pit of idolatry and unbelief as to not be able to see the light of day.

We only know that when we reach the end of our own thoughts, our own knowledge and abilities, when we reach the end of our reason and hope for self-improvement

We are left with nothing. . .

Just ourselves, our failures, and our discovery that we are not God after all.

Just lonely darkness.
...

Into this darkness to which our selfishness and sin have plunged us, a voice speaks.
I am bringing you good news of great joy --To you is born this day a Savior, who is the Messiah, Christ the Lord.

To you is born today the Light who shines into the darkness and no shadow will cover it.

To you is born today the One sent from God to bring you out of the dark night of the soul, out of the depths of unbelief, out of the pit of sin

And into the light of life

To you is born the Savior who by loving you, reminds you who God is and who you are as his child

Who shows you the way of eternal life because he is the Way.

Who forgives your attempts to be God and restores you to your created purpose - to share the love of God.

And how does God do this? How does God persuade us to come out of our darkness and live?

The voice continues to speak - This will be a sign for you. You will find a child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

The God of the vast transcendence, the majestic cosmos, the unknowable and unsearchable - saves us by becoming a baby.

A Baby we can hold and behold.
A Baby we can love and receive love from.
A Baby who wraps the sheer immense fullness of Almighty God in his tiny body.

. . .

On this night, instead of looking for God in the heavens, in the vast expanse of the farthest reaches of the universe,

God comes to us.
Instead of looking out there somewhere for God,
God comes here.
The focus is not wide, but narrow.
With the shepherds, Mary and Joseph, and those in the house, we encircle this Baby and look only at him.
Here is your God. Here is your Savior. Here is the Messiah, Christ the Lord.
His name is Jesus.

. .

Here, swaddled in the manger, is the beginning of your new life.

Here is the One God sends to lift you up from the pit of darkness and bring you again into the light, even as he was lifted up onto the cross and raised from the darkness of the tomb.

Here is the Savior God places in your arms to cradle and love --

His body and blood for your life and salvation.

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among those whom he favors.

It is the shepherds who are the first to show us our new purpose in this new life.
They made known what had been told them about this child.

They made known that this child is the Savior, God's Anointed, the Messiah.

When I hear this verse, I always think of that old Gospel hymn - publish glad tidings, tidings of peace, tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

Publish - tweet - tell -- IM - message - post -write - paint - sing -- make known what God has done for you tonight.

Make known how God has entered your life with Jesus' love.

Make known the story of how Jesus found you lost in darkness and the death of sin and restored your life and made you bright with his light.

Make known the forgiveness and grace of God you receive at the hands of this Child tonight and every Sunday at this table.

Let those you talk to know the good news that is for all people - to you is born this day Jesus, the Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Amen

The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel
947 N George St.
York PA 17404
E-Mail: pastorschlegel@live.com

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