Sermon manuscript:
There’s no two ways about it: The little Lord Jesus entered
this world in an unusual way. It can be a little hard to visualize. Why was Mary
taking this journey so late in her pregnancy? Why didn’t the people of
Bethlehem have some compassion on a pregnant woman? How could anybody tolerate
a baby being born in a barn?
St. Luke the evangelist does not tell us these things that
we might wonder about. So often the Scriptures simply say something, when we might want an explanation. There is a lot
left untold. Suffice it to say that somehow the circumstances were such that
Mary and Joseph were infallibly led to that stable on that night.
God does this a lot—and not just to the famous people that
we read about in the Bible. One avenue after another, one possibility after
another, is eliminated until you find yourself in a particular situation. It
makes me think of back home on the farm. When you wanted the sow to jump up
into the farrowing crate you had to shut off every possible alternative. If
there were an opening left anywhere, no matter how small, you could count on
that sow going that way instead of where you wanted her to go.
I doubt very much that Mary and Joseph left Nazareth with
the intention of having a baby while in Bethlehem. Furthermore, I doubt even
more that they intended to have that happen in a stable. But evidently the
circumstances were such that this is where they ended up. Luke doesn’t tell us
all the details of how that came about.
And, in fact, the way that Luke goes about telling the story,
he makes it seem as though where they happened to be was something of an
afterthought. He says, “And so it was that while they were there, the time
came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped
him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn.” The main thing is the birth of the baby. It was her
firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths. Oh, and by the way, she
laid him in a manger, a trough, because there wasn’t room for them in the inn.
I suspect that this is just the way Mary talked about this
too. Mary and Joseph were pious people. She took what came to her with
equanimity. Some women would have harangued every passerby with how they had to
be in a barn for the birth of the baby. Mary and Joseph weren’t looking for
sympathy. The main thing was that God had chosen her to be the mother of God.
And so she was.
This is also what is important for us as Christians. If
Jesus is not God, then this is just a quaint story. But if he is God, then it
is the beginning of God’s rescue mission. This is the true significance of this
festival. At Christmas we see the beginning of God’s salvation of mankind. The
way that he does it is by joining together with us, by making it so that we and
God hold all things in common, including even our flesh and blood.
Having something in common with somebody else is always a
good thing. Our dearest friends are the ones with whom we hold things in
common. Friends usually share the same outlook, the same economic class, the
same goals and ambitions. Holding things in common with somebody means that you
have a lot to talk about. This is perhaps the first thing we think of when we
speak of having something in common with someone.
But there are other ways that you can have something in
common with someone else. You can, for example, have things in common with
someone so that they do not feel the need to ask in order to make use of what
belongs to you. Mi casa, su casa.
This also is a very pleasurable thing. If you feel comfortable at a friend’s
house, so that you could raid their fridge or stretch out on their couch, then
that’s a special relationship. Such friends are like family, where things are
held in common. This is something that is very nice about being at home. Uou
hold all things in common with your family. You don’t need permission to do
whatever it is that you might want. It all belongs to you together.
So what does it mean to hold all things in common together
with Jesus? It means that Jesus shares everything that is his with us, and we
share whatever is ours with him. Mary becomes our mother. Jesus becomes our
brother. God becomes our Father. This is the end result of being born again by
being baptized. You are joined together with Christ, baptized into Christ. He
shares what belongs to him.
We share what belongs to us. What’s surprising is that in
spite of what we share, it does not undo the relationship. It does not harm it.
We share our broken relationships with Jesus. We share our sin with Jesus. We
share our shame with Jesus. We share even the darkest, evilest things we have
ever done.
When we share things like this in common with our fellow
human beings, this sharing of evil is usually spells the end of the
relationship. We won’t put up with what the other person is doing to us, and so
we quit having things in common with them. They go their way; we go our way.
This is because our love is very weak.
God, on the other hand, is love. Although we bring so much
evil and dirt into this relationship with Jesus, it does not destroy the
relationship. It does not even harm the relationship. This is the very reason
why God sent his only-begotten Son in the first place. God did not sent his Son
to condemn the world, but that the world would be saved through him. All the
sin that we bring to this relationship with Jesus is swallowed up and done away
with. All the sin of all mankind is like a spark in comparison to God’s
forgiveness that is like an ocean. Just as an ocean is not undone by a mere
spark, so also our sin does not undo God’s power to save.
This is not to say, though, that this was simple or easy.
Some people have wondered why God couldn’t just wave a wand and make all sin
and evil just go away. I don’t know why he didn’t do that, and I don’t really
care. What God would have us look to is his Son, Jesus, whom he loves. Jesus
did not live an easy life. He was tempted in every way that we are tempted, and
yet without sin. His love was such that he was always giving, and therefore he
was often exhausted. Then there is that sublime mystery of his atonement for
sin. Having shared all things in common with us, he received our sin. Paul even
calls Jesus “sin” itself—that is how deeply Jesus is enmeshed with all that we
have brought into the relationship.
The punishment that should be meted out against us, was
meted out instead upon Jesus. The suffering that is visible and detectable with
Jesus’s passion and death is but the tip of the iceberg. There is much more
going on spiritually, and behind the scenes as it were, as this ocean swallows
up the spark. The price to redeem us sinners was so high that it killed not
only the sinless man of Jesus—which is already impossible—but it even killed
God—which doesn’t seem conceivable, much less possible.
But God wants fellowship with you. That is why he did what
he did. That is why he still does what he does, up to and including this
present moment. He would have you believe that unto you is born a child who is
Christ the Lord. He would have you believe that all things that belong to
Christ now belong to you as you believe in him. Just like a good friend is
happy to see you, so also Jesus begrudges you nothing as he holds all things in
common with you. Our sins, which should be in the way, which should destroy
this relationship utterly, are nowhere to be found except in the scars of his
hands and his feet that his dazzling resurrection body still bears. To
progress, to become more advanced in your wisdom and sanctification, you must
regard yourself more and more as having all things together with Christ. He is
your brother—your good, kind, and loving brother. Mary is your mother. God is
your Father.
And now, just as you are received so graciously by our
brother and friend, Jesus, so also you might forgive and receive others. On the
night when Jesus was betrayed he said, “A new commandment I give you. As I
have loved you, so also you must love one another.” In this way we can be
little christs to one another—which is what the word “Christian” means.
“Christian” means “little Christ.”
Another way of saying this is that you should pluck up the
courage to hold things in common with others. Do not shut yourself up behind
fences and gates, grudges, worries, the things that have been done in the past.
The same ocean of grace that swallowed up your sin belongs also to you since
you are now holding everything in common with Jesus. The lower you go, the more
humble you are, the more you reach out and love, the more you are following
Jesus your teacher.
If Jesus wanted to insist on rights, then he most certainly
could have. He, more than anyone, had rights. The Caesars at that time wanted
people to believe that they were gods. Jesus really was and is God. He is king
of kings and lord of lords. Thus he could have been born in kings’ houses. But
where do you find him? He is lower than the lowest, kindly inviting anybody and
everybody to share in his goodness. He was born in that stable because God
wanted him born in that stable. It is a fitting picture and sends a clear
message about what is really good, what is love, and therefore who God really
is.
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