Luke 2:1-7
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Listening guide
Discussion guide
Sermon
Hi and Merry Christmas. I’m glad to see you.
I wanted to just look out at you for a moment and look at you. I hope that doesn’t creep you out. Not think about any words or ideas or anything. Just see you. And smile. I look at you and I have this sense of calm, of stability, of peace, and of steadfastness as I look at you.
It’s so good to have that feeling as we celebrate
I want you to have the same thing. I don’t know how you feel as you look around at everyone else. I realize that this has been a difficult, chaotic year. Whether your chaos has been job loss and death, or it’s been the chaos of isolation and loneliness, we’ve all experienced chaos.
Promise/Discovery
Get the peace of Christmas. It’s in these words, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (verse 14)
This story should be true to you. I could give you all the reasons why the story is historical, why it actually happened.
But it also needs to be good.
Development
(What is the Christmas message? - picture of the manger) The Christmas message is not God has abandoned you, it doesn’t matter what you do or what happens. It’s not that we can do whatever we want. That would be chaos.
Nor is it that God has brought armies to drive out the evil people and destroy you. That’s what the Jewish people and many religious people thought the message of Christmas should be.
The Christmas message is that God is here and he is here to live with you and for you. He is here to do what you can’t or won’t do. How can you not love him for that?
See so many of us mess this up...
If you say to yourself, everything is good. It’s fine. I’ve got rest. I’ve got peace. Life is stable. I don’t think you get Christmas. That is everything is okay.
At the same time if you say, life is such a mess. It’s too messed up. It’s too chaotic. There is no hope. If that’s what you say, you don’t get Christmas either.
If you and I get Christmas, we’ve got to say something like, I know I made you mad. I know I hurt you God. But I still want to be with you because I see how much you want to be with me.
My kids, I love my kids. I never realized how often as a parent I would have to go to my kids before they apologized and say to them, “Hey, I love you. I want you to know that the right thing to do know is to apologize because you messed up. You can be confident that I will forgive you. Then you and I aren’t going to live as if this never happened. No, rather, you and I are going to live differently because this happened. You will know more deeply that I love you, that not even your wrongs will keep us apart. And you will know that you do wrong stuff and you can change.”
You see what I mean? That is the meaning of Christmas. When you hear this, you say, “I’m not ashamed and I don’t have to hide what I’ve done wrong. And I don’t flaunt it either.” It’s only when you say that, that you get Christmas.
I want to ask you. I think that is honest. Raw. Can you handle that kind of Christmas? Here is how you do it.
You’ve got to ask yourself, do I know what keeps me from others? Do I know what really messes me and others up? Do I know how to forgive others? Do I know what pushes people away? Do I know what draws them in? Let me give us a little illustration. This is a tweak on an old one.
Imagine your car breaks down The best way to fix your car is going to be something like what the manufacturer originally created. Some of you aren’t going to do exactly what he did but that is because you are creative enough to tweak it still within those guidelines. What won’t work
“That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us [happiness and] peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. (CS Lewis, Mere Christianity,
And here is what God says, “and in one body to reconcile them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:16)
Do you know who he is talking about? He is talking about that child in the manger.
At Christmas you and I
I’m the exact opposite of this baby lying in a manger. That is peace, it’s at rest, calm, strength, vitality, You’ve got to look at that manger. You’ve got to see this baby lying there wrapped in a manger. Why is he lying in a manger? Why doesn’t she hold him in her arms? Why didn’t she pass him to Joseph? Why doesn’t it say, “She wrapped him in cloths and passed him to Joseph, and they napped all night in the hay.”
stability.
"Following the Civil War, a dejected confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The solider related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him why he was unjustly deprived of certain lands in the South following the war. On each occasion as he attempted to enter the White House, the guards crossed their bayoneted guns in front of the door and turned him away. The boy motioned to the soldier to follow him. When they approached the guarded entrance, the soldiers came to attention, stepped back and opened the door for the boy. He proceeded to the library where the President was resting and introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln The soldier had gained an "introduction" (audience) with the President through the President’s son." (Abraham Lincoln, as cited by Donald G. Barnhouse, God’s River., Romans 5:1-11: Garnd Rapids, Eerdmans, 1958, p. 39).
I want you to have this Christmas peace. I want you to say, “God, I know I’ve made you mad. I know I’ve hurt you. I see that you want nothing more than to be with me. I’m sorry and I want to be with you.”
You and I should see Christmas peace in all kinds of ways.
Reconciliation
Overcoming anxiety
End of wars or conflicts
Dancing of the trees (Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. 1 Chron 16:33)
Move in with the poor and lay out your life to help them
I don’t want you to chose any kind of fake peace this Christmas. 20, 30 years ago it was easy to say, you do your thing, I’ll do my thing, you make your choices and I won’t tell you or anyone else that you’re wrong.
Now, it’s a little more upfront . I’m not only talking about sexuality or . I’m talking about allegiances. Don’t fall for all that fake peace. Know this Christmas that …
Peace does not come from earth, but peace has come onto earth. That’s Christmas peace for all of us.