The Gift God gives.
“It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. As moments go, that one appeared no different to any other. If you could somehow pick it up off the timeline and examine it, it would look exactly like the ones that have passed while I have spoken these words. It came and it went. It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless moments that have marked time since eternity became measurable.
But in reality, that particular moment was like none other. For through that segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man. While the creatures of the earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.
The omnipotent, in one instant made himself breakable. He who was once spirit became pierce-able. He who was larger than the Universe became an embryo. And he who sustained the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a foetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created.
God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother. God had come near.
He came not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one who’s first cries were heard by a peasant girl and an exhausted carpenter. The hands that first held him were unmanicured, calloused and dirty. No silk. No ivory. No party. No hype.
Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of star-gazers, there would have been no gifts.
Angels watched in wonder as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched in wonder as The Almighty learned to walk.”
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
My introduction this evening was written by Max Lucado in his book God came near. I love it because it brings that which is beyond our comprehension to language we can understand. It takes the nativity scene, so surreal and other-worldly and normalises it. It gives us a glimpse into the moment that changed everything.
The Christmas story in many ways has lost its rawness and its absurdity. Our Christmas cards more often than not hold pictures of snow-covered scenery, or cute animals wearing red hats. The more religious ones may hold a nativity scene where two well-adjusted adults with halos, kneel near a crib-like manger where an angelic babe sleeps. Clean, packaged, acceptable.
Yet us in our messy world look in and feel like it really can’t have too much to do with us. Our messy lives with pain, and dirt and disappointment. Our lives where we are not well adjusted adults and where things don’t always end up neatly packaged. Lives which search for meaning, for belonging, for guidance and for hope. What can this perfect picture possible have to do with our lives? How could this gift of a baby be relevant in our 21st century. And so tonight, I hope to paint a slightly more realistic picture of what happened one night over 2000 years ago…
Mary was a teenager. In our day and age where young people get pregnant out of wedlock frequently, we miss the force of this situation. In a close knit Jewish community in the first century this news would have been anything but welcome. The law regarded a betrothed women who became pregnant to be an adulteress, punishable to death by stoning. Interestingly enough it has been well speculated that into today’s society the baby would not have survived. A teenage unplanned pregnancy in a hostile society, no father and an extremely poverty stricken area would have given every reason necessary for termination… let alone the fact that the young girl showed psychotic tendancies by claiming that an angel spoke to her and holy ghost conception.
Consider Joseph, and his disillusionment when he discovers that Mary is with child. He is older than Mary and is looking forward to his marriage with high anticipation, when he finds she is carrying another man’s baby. He would have been hurt. Deeply hurt. Even so he decides to act with compassion to divorce Mary quietly rather than publicly as was the norm. But for God this is not enough and Joseph is told to take Mary as his wife regardless and protect her. How many times did Joseph second-guess his angel encounter as “just a dream” as he endured the shame of the village noticing the changing shape of his fiancé?
Nine months of awkward explanations, the lingering scent of scandal.
A male head of household was all that was required for a Roman census, and yet Joseph dragged his heavily pregnant wife alongside him. Could it be that he wanted to spare her the dishonour of a village birth?
And as they celebrated the arrival of their baby boy, amidst dirt and manure. Loneliness and obscurity – can you imagine the questions that ran through their minds? What now God? How are we meant to raise your son? Where to from here? What will the future hold? Am I up to this? Will I fail?
Confusion, uncertainty, fear, wonderment, bewilderment, exhaustion. This couple felt it all. And yet to them God presents a gift. A Wonderful Counsellor in baby form. Someone who would walk a path worth following. Someone who would speak words of comfort and wisdom into the most confusing circumstances. Someone who would understand and empathise with their pain, who would experience it all, and yet be without sin.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence – so that we may receive mercy and find help in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15, 16)
This evening perhaps you too are like Mary and Joseph. Perhaps there are circumstances which are troubling, uncertain, exhausting. I pray that you may receive the gift of a Wonderful Counsellor into your heart.
Somewhere to the East of this Cow shed, some men gazed in amazement at a star, which appeared in a form surprising and compelling. These wise men would have been wealthy. The size of their gifts belied their ability to be generous and travel in those days was expensive and dangerous. They must have had time for leisure, or they would not have left on camel back for many weeks into the desert.
What was it they sought? Their words to Herod speaks of them looking for a King, a ruler… someone worth following. They needed to find someone they could trust, believe in and worship. Evidently they had everything they wanted and yet not what they needed. If their worldly comforts had satisfied they would have never left.
It is well known that many wealthy people, who have spent their lives amassing security and comforts battle with retirement. They have plenty to live on, but not enough to live for. A situation which confronts many, of all ages, especially in the community we live in.
It seems likely that these wise men were escaping their life that had been empty, always searching for something. The outside was well furnished and decorated but the inside needed a king to pull it together and give it meaning and worth. Someone who reminded them that life is more than getting and spending. That there is a bigger picture – a grander story that we get to play a part in. A way in which our lives can make a difference and be significant. Someone who will welcome us, with a “well done good and faithful servant”.
To these men God presents a gift. A Mighty God in baby form. A strong leader, a King worthy of worship and Honour. A God who is able to show them their place in the bigger story. One who can give meaning and worth.
“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not to harm you. To give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
This evening perhaps you find yourself in the place of these wise men. Recognising that for you it has been all about externals and little about internals. Perhaps you find yourself with little to live for. I pray that you may accept the gift of Mighty God, to be ruler and governor in your heart.
There were some on whom that night was another night at the office… although in this case the office consisted of a field of sheep. Working throughout the night to protect the animals, shepherds in the society and time of the nativity were nobodies in the extreme sense. They were outcasts in society, the lowest of the low. The reason they were out there and not in the town to be counted in the census is because they weren’t considered human enough. They had such a poor reputation that Jewish law lumped them in the category of ‘godless’ and restricted their access to the very outer court of the temple. They were deemed so untrustworthy that the word of a shepherd would count for nothing in a court of law. They were illiterate hirelings – didn’t own their own property or even their own sheep. The bottom of the proverbial food chain.
Perhaps you can identify with this feeling of being unwanted, unseen and belonging to nobody and nothing. Their self-esteem must have come purely from their company with each other for no one else wanted to have anything to do with them. God was distant, unknowable, unapproachable and inaccessible.
Amazing that God chose them, the humble, nameless group of shepherds to reveal his plan to. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord…”
A Saviour has been born to you, nameless lowly shepherd… and to all people.
To the lowly shepherd God presents a gift. An Everlasting Father in baby form. A heavenly family to belong to. An inheritance that never spoils nor fades. A place to belong and be known. To be named, and loved and accepted. “For all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” (1 John 3:1)
This evening perhaps you find yourself in the place of these shepherds. Perhaps you feel you are worth nothing, that no one cares or really knows you. Perhaps you have been trodden on and excluded and unwanted by people one too many times. I pray that tonight you may accept the gift of an Everlasting Father, to be the lover of your soul. That you may know yourself to be desired, and bought, and so valuable in God’s sight.
Jesus was born into an occupied and oppressed people group. The Jews were under Roman control and as such were abused by a system that simply worked for more wealth and power. Heavy taxes were imposed on all people, so much that many were starving. Those who couldn’t pay had their land stolen and their children taken for slaves. Children’s rights, Women’s right, human rights did not exist. The story which never gets told on Christmas is how Jesus birth sparked Herod to kill all baby boys in the town of Bethlehem. Jesus and his family are refugees for years in a foreign land. Blood, tears, murder, hopelessness, chaos. Devastation reigned.
In our society today we sometimes feel that same way. We look at the poverty around us, the greed, the crime and violence, the abuse… and we cry out for help. We look inside ourselves and see the anxiety, the uncertainties, the losses and grief, the anger and unforgiveness, the fears. And we cry out for an end to this. We cry out for hope. The world groans in the turmoil.
“Peace! Peace!” we cry – when there really is no prospect for peace.
The world tries to get peace through conferences, coalitions and treaties. It protects its stability through armed forces and threats. It protects its sanity with psychology and drugs and escapism.
To the people of Bethlehem, God presents a gift. The Prince of Peace in baby form. The one who would bring peace not as the world gives – but a peace of relationships, a peace with our Maker. A peace that happens amidst the storms and the tears.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Tonight maybe you are in search of peace. Whether it be peace because of turmoil around you, peace because of the turmoil within you or peace because of a World that is crying out for hope… I pray that you might accept the gift of the Prince of Peace. That you will know within your soul, the peace that passes understanding.
If you sought to give mankind this Christmas the gift it most needs, what would you offer? You would need to remember the many and special needs of the world. Millions are hungry or cold at this moment. Mighty nations, strong and proud are still afraid – and its citizens tremble. Factions struggle for supremacy on every corner of the globe. You need to consider all manner of people – those who are too secure and callous, those adrift and afraid, those ostracized and excluded, the old nearing the grave and the young still within the womb. At Christmas the reminder of loss and the bitterness of strife bring its sharpest pain. One despairing over an empty place at dinner and another rejoicing at a place filled.
What would you offer?
God gave us a baby. And in that he gave us himself. He gave us the ability to change situations and have hope and peace. A gift that would provide the power to make a commitment that would lead to forgiveness and reconciliation. A gift that removes guilt, removes shame and builds acceptance and love.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Tonight as we prepare for Christmas will you accept this gift? Will you prepare your heart for this baby, this child, this Jesus.
Wonderful Counsellor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace.
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