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Matthew
1:18-21
18
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary
had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be
with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man
and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She
will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins.”
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Luke
2:1-20
2 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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Merry
Christmas! What a joy it is to sing carols together announcing the birth of our
Savior! In between our carols this Christmas Eve, we’ve been hearing the
Christmas story.
Tonight
our story started in the Gospel of Matthew with an Angel of the Lord coming to
Joseph in a dream saying his soon-to-be-wife has conceived a child through the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Joseph is told that child is to be named Jesus, for he
will save the people from their sins. Jesus will be their Savior… Jesus will be
our Savior.
When
then switched over to the Gospel of Luke for our next three lessons. Joseph and
Mary travel to his hometown of Bethlehem. There, Mary went into labor and Jesus
was born. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid in a manger. In that
moment, our Savior was born.
Then,
out in the countryside, there were a group of shepherds watching their flock by
night. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared before them, and with what I
imagine to be a bright light and a great shout declared, “Do not be afraid; for
see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will
be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in
a manger.” And soon that angel was joined with a multitude of angels. All were
proclaiming the birth of our Savior!
Following
the declaration of the angel, the shepherds went with haste to the town of Bethlehem
to see the infant the angel spoke of. When they arrived, they saw Joseph and
they saw Mary.. and then they saw the child, and they knew in that moment what
the angel had said was true. And so they went out, glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, announcing to all the birth of our Savior.
It’s
a nice story; it’s a lovely story.. As I retell the Christmas story in my own
words, I feel like there’s something missing here. This is not the complete
Christmas story.. or at least, not for us.
A
few weeks ago, the church in which I serve hosted a Christmas party for our
youth. As part of that Christmas Party, I challenged the youth to give a
Christmas present to their adult leaders. The Christmas Present was they were
to act out the full Christmas story complete with a full nativity scene—without
any adult direction or guidance. They were given thirty minutes to prepare.
However,
I didn’t even make it out of the room before nearly everyone was talking and
someone was loudly playing the piano that was in the room. One of the youth is
now yelling across the room, “Pastor Taylor! Make the rule that no one can play
the piano!”
I
kept walking, gave them a wave, smiled, and exited the room. It was almost
cruel, right? But that was their challenge. They were, as a youth group,
without the help of the adults, act out the Christmas story. I went downstairs
to meet up with the other adults, the youth were directly above us, and for the
entire thirty minutes we heard screaming and yelling and just… noise. Lots and
lots of noise.
After
thirty minutes passed, the other adults and I went upstairs to see what the
youth had prepared. We sat down, and after a few moments while the youth
“collected” themselves, the story started.
The
was a reader who narrated the story, there was a Joseph and a Mary, one of the
youth was acting as baby Jesus. They were surrounded by youth acting as sheep
and cows and goats. In the background of the manger scene was a youth with a
large, lit candle shining as the angel of the Lord surrounded by a multitude of
other youth angels. Then the shepherds came in and then so did the wisemen and
the innkeeper because he wanted a small part in the play too and everyone was
just there, surrounding a 13-year-old baby Jesus. And it was incredible!
The first
question I asked all of my youth after we all got settled was, “How was that
experience of acting out the nativity scene without the direction of the
adults?”
One of the older youth, who did his very best to lead and organize the other youth, shouted, “Chaotic!”
One of the older youth, who did his very best to lead and organize the other youth, shouted, “Chaotic!”
And
then my colleague, without missing a beat, says, “Yes! You understand the
Christmas story! It was chaotic!”
And
that’s the truth. The birth of Christ was chaotic! With all that was happening;
unwed parents, a manger surrounded by animals of all sorts, angels in the sky,
music and lights, stranger shepherds; all surrounding a newborn baby, which is honestly
enough on its own. This story was chaotic and crazy and wild. And sometimes when we tell the Christmas
story, we forget that part; just how chaotic it really was.
But that’s also the beauty of it. That in the midst of that chaos, a child named Emmanuel was born. A name that means, “God is with us.” In the midst of chaos, God is with us.
That’s
the Christmas message I need this year. And perhaps you need it as well.
There
is chaos in this season. You know, with all that happens during this holiday.
Maybe it’s the traveling to see family and friends.. maybe it’s the hosting of
family and friends. There’s the shopping and the gift wrapping and the present
exchanging. It’s the thinking and planning and preparing and cooking the
perfect holiday meal because everything has to be just right.
And
it’s also the emotion that comes with Christmas. The joy and celebration! A
time to be surrounded by people you love most in this world.
Or
maybe unfortunately it’s not. Maybe this isn’t a time of joy. Maybe it’s a
heartbreaking time. For many, Christmas is a time when we are in need of
comfort. Perhaps we are grieving over the loss of a loved one, struggling with
illness, or have experienced the loss of a job. Maybe we just can’t be with
someone we miss so dearly.
Whatever
we are feeling or whatever we are doing, we hear the name whispered tonight as
we sing songs and light candles. Emmanuel. God is with us.
In the silence and in the noise, in the nativity and in the chaos, we feel the Christ-child around us. Emmanuel. God is with us.
And so it is, friends. Emmanuel is born, and thus, God is with you, this day to the end of all days, until Christ comes again. Merry Christmas! Amen.
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