I had decided early on in the sermon preparation to go with the "declare all things" theme because it felt like in response to the challenges of 2020, we needed to declare our faith about what Christ coming means. Along the way, my friend and colleague Karl Travis sent me the link to the blog by Ian Paul. The sermon ended up being a merging of those two thoughts.
“Declare These Things”: Christmas Eve, 2020; Titus 2: 11-15; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp;
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. 15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one look down on you.
Introduction: The Scripture lessons we read tonight tell the story of Christ’s birth and how the early church is was to understand who Christ was and what God had done by coming in the flesh.
But, there are very few verses spent telling about the actual birth of Christ.
In fact, if we went back to chapter one of the Gospel of Luke, we would read 80 verses, most of which tell stories leading up to the birth of Christ.
The second chapter from which we did read this today spends most of the birth narrative on where Jesus was born, the glorious announcement from the heavens, and the shepherds confirming the truth of what the angels had told them.
In fact, the Gospel of Luke only spends half a verse, maybe a verse (depending on how you look at it) on the birth part of the story.
While that may be surprising, if you think about the stories people tell about the births of their children, I suspect you will see a similar pattern.
We tell stories about the pregnancy, maybe even about the conception, and we tell lots of stories about after the child has arrived, but not many stories from the hospital room where the child is actually born?
Why? Because stories leading up to the birth and the stories about the child born reveal the impact and implications of the child’s birth.
I think Luke recognizes that truth as well. No doubt the image of baby Jesus being born is a beautiful one. We love to think about Jesus lying in his manger with Mary seated nearby, with Joseph standing by her. It makes a beautiful Christmas card. An idyllic image.
But this year, especially this year, we need more than a sweet story about baby Jesus being born. We need, the world needs to hear about what God has done.
We need, the world needs, for us to, as the author of Titus describes it, declare these things - declare the impact and implications of what God has done in the birth of Jesus.
So tonight, claim for yourself and declare for others these things:
Move 1: First, the grace of God has appeared - God has chosen to join us in the reality of our lives.
a. Luke goes to pains to tell us who was ruling when Christ was born.
1. He mentions King Herod of Judea, Emperor Augustus of Rome, and Quirinius, governor of Syria.
2. Real people who reigned in real places.
3. This is where baby Jesus arrives.
4. Not some distant place, far away from reality. No, Jesus arrives interrupting the course of history.
b. Our world may seem a little too real as we face a pandemic across the globe; threats of violence and bloodshed in many places; divisions in our own nation; sickness and death, which visit us or our friends too often.
6. and where is God, right here with us.
7. How do we know? Because the Christ-child was born in a real place, in the real world.
c. Over the years, I have been involved in lots of conversations about whether Jesus was born in a stable, or a cave, or a room at a house.
1. to be honest, how that conversation ended has never mattered much to me.
2. In my mind, whether Jesus was born in a stable, or cave, or in a house did not matter nearly as much as the overall point that God chose to come in flesh.
3. But this year in preparing for the Pastors’ class on the Gospel of Luke’s birth narrative, I ran into an article that laid out some facts about where Jesus was born.
4. The author made the argument that the word we see translated as “inn,” is best translated as the room in a house where everyone sleeps.
5. So, Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem and go to stay with relatives, which would have been the custom.
But the room where everyone slept was full, so they went to the downstairs sort of room where the animals were brought in at night (https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/jesus-wasnt-born-in-a-stable-and-that-makes-all-the-difference/?fbclid=IwAR02PO5suUMTMxXl-9wtCS0NeDP5VvdnMu3Stgla2nTzUr1tFWSRYOzwnMA; blog by Ian Paul)
6. Quite a different image than the one we generally have from our Christmas pageants!
d. The author also shared why it might matter to us.
1. As we so often tell the story, Mary and Joseph are turned away from the inn and head off somewhere by themselves, some stable around back or cave nearby.
2. that interpretation has Jesus arriving in a solitary place, away from the world.
3. But, if we understand Jesus being born in the extra room with the animals in the household overflowing with family members and guests, the story is about the God who not only comes into the real world but comes into the middle of it.
4. The God who joins us in the messiness of our lives.
5. the God who is at work right in the middle of our pandemic.
6. the God who does not arrive in some solitary place, but chooses to be involved in the very fabric of our lives and our world.
7. That is the God we need; that is the God who arrives as the Christ-child in Bethlehem.
We declare to the world this night that God is in our midst, in the thick of things.
Move 2: Second, the angels announce “on earth peace”
a. The Christ-child born in Bethlehem will be known as the Prince of Peace,.
1. the world at that time heard a lot about peace.
2. the Roman government was all about bringing peace to the world.
3. Peace they created through brute force and military might.
4. Peace maintained through the show of strength and bloodshed.
b. The birth of Christ to Mary and Joseph signals to the world that God does things differently than the world does.
1. the peace of Christ comes not through brute force, but by the power of God’s love.
2. From his birth to his death, to his resurrection, Jesus reveals God’s way of peace through love.
3. I remember a story from the civil war in Bosnia. The Bosnian capital has been under siege for over two years, but the people of Sarajevo found a way to persevere.
Interesting phenomenon, despite shortages of food and medicine, Sarajevo’s birth rate exceeded prewar levels.
When asked about it, a new mother said, “With each child, we are fighting back with our love of life…”
A doctor also noted, “In a population so mutilated, the act of giving birth is the most beautiful thing we have.” Dr. Puzic said.
4. The birth of Christ reveals God’s love - the most powerful gift God can give us.
5. As Jesus lives his life, it grows out of that love and his actions will be marked by love - self-giving, sacrificial love.
6. the peace of Christ comes to us by love.
We declare to the world this night that our hope for peace is found in the love of God and in our sharing that love.
Move 3: Finally, the shepherds confirm what God has done.
a. the shepherds left their fields to see if what the angels had announced was true.
1. They confirmed the truth when they saw baby Jesus and heard the stories of his birth.
2. Then they return to their fields, telling everyone along the way what they had seen.
3. They offer to those who listen to their story of lives disrupted.
4. Real people, real lives, changed forever by the of who comes in Christ.
b. We confirm for the world God’s presence.
1. We confirm it by the stories we tell of what God has done and what God is doing; by pointing to the future in hope for what God is going to do.
2. We confirm it by the lives we lead that reveal God’s love.
3. We confirm when others see the way we are changed by the grace of God.
4. Thomas Troeger, a hymn writer, poet, and preaching professor, tells the story of the little girl who wanted to stop at church on Christmas day.
parents saw no need to go by the church on Christmas day.
She was insistent. finally, the little girl told them she wanted to go and make sure someone was feeding and caring for baby Jesus.
5. You do not have to come back tomorrow, or the next day, or any day thereafter to feed and care for baby Jesus.
6. But you are sent into the world to feed and care for others in the name of Jesus.
We declare to the world this night - God has arrived, and our lives, indeed the world has been changed forever. Amen.
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