Reflections on "Blankets and Hay" Luke 2:7; Galatians 4: 1-7

I think the sermon went better in the Sanctuary service, but I don't have a good feel for that.  I liked the sermon better in the Sanctuary.  I was again preaching from outside the pulpit area, so I free-lanced a bit in the Sanctuary sermon, which I believe made it better. But, I also can't really make those changes today on the text below.  

Interesting tidbit -- I was told that I was correct in noting we had straw not hay in the manger at the church, but that it was probably hay in the manger since it it was a feeding trough for the animals, and they would have eaten hay.  

I firmly believe that Jesus being fully human is powerful and critical to our understanding of how God is.  But, I also do not believe we can ever come to grips with it.  Maybe the mind just won't go there; maybe we like Jesus as divine so much better than Jesus as fully human that we can't conceive of his humanity; maybe I don't make a very good case as to why it is important; maybe most people get it and I don't.  Not sure, but I do know that  I felt the same thing yesterday that I usually feel when I make the argument that Jesus being fully human is really important to us -- a glazed look of "who cares!"

“Blankets and Hay” Advent 3; Luke 2:7; Galatians 4: 1-7; FPC, Troy; Dec. 15, 2013

Introduction:  we began Advent with an empty manger, a reminder of the anticipation we have that Christ will come.

We added a pink swan and reflected on the surprises that come with the Christ-child.

Now, blankets and hay.

IN the birth story, the Gospel of Luke includes the notation that Mary wrapped baby Jesus in cloths and put him in a manger. 

No mention of hay (which I have been told probably was straw), but we presume that it was there in the manger to make it more comfortable.

The cloth to keep the newborn warm; the blankets to keep his soft, baby skin safe from being scratched by the bed of straw.

This detail reminds us that the story of Christ’s birth, the story of God coming in flesh, takes place in the real world.

 Move 1:  The Gospel writers and the early church go out of their way to make it clear that Jesus’ story is grounded in the reality of life as we know it.

a.      Genealogies are shared in Matthew and Luke.

1.      Besides the fascinating tale they tell if we trace the genealogies, they root Jesus’ birth in a concrete moment in human history.

2.      Jesus was not some god who randomly appeared on earth; Jesus arrived as one connected to humanity.  Not in a generic way, but in a very specific family line.

b.      Both Matthew and Luke put the birth of Jesus in a particular time and place.

1.      Matthew mentions the time of King Herod; Luke further specifies the time of Emperor Augustus when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 

2.      Those details tell us that Jesus’ story is not one that can be told in any context because it has a particular context grounded in a particular time.

3.      Emmanuel, which means “God with us” is not a theory about God, but a truth that is lived out in the particularity of Jesus’ birth.

c.      That’s why baby Jesus needed the blankets and hay.

1.      He needed the warmth and comfort they provided.

2.      He depended on his parents to care for him because he was like any other baby born.

3.      Yes, he was the Son of God, but he was fully human.

4.      One of us.

5.  The manger in Bethlehem is not the landing zone for some god who has been beamed down to earth for a period of time.

6.  No, baby Jesus is a newborn with newborn needs just like any other baby.

Why does that matter?   

Move 2:  It matters, in part, because it gives us some clues about where to find Jesus in our world.

a.  Rev. Daniel Harrell tells the story of his childhood church going from a plastic baby Jesus to a live manger (much like we have here on Christmas Eve). the first year 3 month-old Trevor played baby Jesus. He had an older sister named Mary, who was still adjusting to having a baby invade her world. As the choir sang, "No crying he makes," Trevor, as baby Jesus, let out a blood-curdling scream. Apparently, he didn't like the feel of the hay on him. His sister turned toward baby Jesus and shouted, "Shut up." the next year they went back to a baby doll for Jesus. Christian Century,December 11, 2013, Living the Word: Reflections on the Lectionary,." Daniel Harrell (17)

1.  It’s hard to conceive of a real, life, fully human Jesus.

2. But that is where we find God, in the fabric of our daily lives.

3. IN the places where inns are full and young couples have to go out among the animals to give birth to their child.

4.  in the places where little sisters tell crying babies to shut up.

4. In the nooks and crannies of our imperfection, we find Christ coming to us.

b.     Jesus' birth reveals the joys and challenges that Mary and Joseph face. 

1.      Childbirth is exciting and scary, full of awe and vulnerability.

2.      Nothing more exhilarating than the first cry; nothing scarier than no sound from the newborn – I've been there for both.

4. No higher high; no lower low.

            b. Mary and Joseph hit parenthood running.

1.      The joy of people arriving to confirm that their greatest hope for their son.  Imagine how they felt when the heard what the shepherds had to say about their son.

2.      Then they literally run to Egypt, according to the Gospel of Matthew, to escape the harsh rule of King Herod.

                        3. The excitement of hearing people proclaim their son as the glory of glories coupled with the reality of political intrigue, evil power, and fear for their lives.

c.       A reminder that as we move through life and whatever it brings, we do so in the company of the Risen Christ.

1.      In those joyous moments of celebration, we see the hand of God.

2.      In those scary, vulnerable times, we discover the presence of God.

3. The baby in the manger means that God is in our midst.

Move 3:   Jesus being human also matters because it gives value and meaning to our daily living.

            a. How many of us would be fine with a superhuman Jesus who heroically saves us?

1.      The first Advent sermon I preached focused on Jesus' humanity. At least, that was one of its foci (I tried to cover a lot in that sermon).

2.  after the service one of the Elders (an older woman who had listened to the renowned Presbyterian preacher and Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall preach in her young adult days) came up to me and told me that it was fine to make the point that Jesus was human, but her hope is in the fully divine part of Christ.

3.  I bet most of us think like that.

            b. But if Christ were just some god that offered us the resurrection, then the only point of living would be to get through life as quickly as possible and escape.

1. There would be no place in that world for love and relationships.

2. No need to follow Christ.

3. No point in working to become that new creation God calls us to be.

c. Christ’s humanity brings us back to the God who chose to create out of love and be in relationship with us.

       1. The one who breathes the breath of life into the mud come to join us in the messiness of that life.

       2.  As Paul tells the Galatians, God comes in flesh to redeem us. 

3.  As Christ does not invite us to escape life and run off to some fairy tale land, but to be transformed and to transform our world.

3.      Just as the Christ-child embraces his world around him, God calls us to embrace the world around us, to share God’s love, to follow Christ into the world.

Conclusion:  Baby Jesus needs the blanket and straw because of love; because of God’s love that sends Christ is the flesh to live with us.