This sermon worked better at the 7:00pm service than the 5:00pm service. I made a few changes, which probably are not reflected in the text below. We have had some significant grief in the church recently, which clearly was on my mind as I wrote and preached this sermon. I had a couple of stories to tell: one about a graveyard that puts up white Christmas lights and one an EB Milne story from The New Yorker about a young boy reaching out to grab a baby Jesus from a manger scene for sale at a Woolworth's in NYC and his mother telling him "he didn't want that." Perhaps the stories would have added to the sermon. I had to cut quite a bit from the sermon to keep it within the time limits of a communion service with back-to-back worship services.
“Skipping Christmas: No Baby Jesus”; Luke 2: 1-7; Christmas Eve, 2023; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. 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. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 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.
Introduction: My mother has a little nativity scene.
Simple. wooden. takes center stage on the table in the main room, flanked by snow globes with Christmas scenes on one end of the table and Santa on the other end of the table.
somehow, when it was put up last year. baby Jesus got separated from the rest of the nativity scene.
When they went to put it out this year (I was not there; I was missing out on my familial duty) - they had two sheep, three wise men, Mary, Joseph, and a manger
But no baby Jesus.
The question quickly arose - can you have a nativity scene no baby Jesus.
Or better yet, can you have Christmas with no baby Jesus?
a. As some of you may know, we have spent Advent imagining what it would be like if we skipped Advent -
we discovered that if we skip out on Advent, we would skip out on the hope the prophet Isaiah brings to us, hope many of us desperately need.
if we skip out on Advent, we miss out on the Advent songs and Christmas carols that tell the story of God coming in flesh in a beautiful, musical way
if we skip out on Advent, we miss out on the witness of Mary’s incredible act of stepping out in faith to bear God’s Son.
If we skip out on Advent, we miss out on the shepherds who recognize the urgency of following the one born in Bethlehem
b. tonight, we imagine what would we miss if we were to skip out on Christmas.
Skip out baby Jesus.
Move 1: We could still have a celebration
a. We could have all the trappings of Christmas, like a birthday party.
We just would not be celebrating the birth of Christ.
1. We could give gifts;
families could gather;
we could have big meals.
we could take a moment out of our busy lives to celebrate together.
just no celebrating the birth of Christ.
2. We could even have a wonderful worship service.
with terrific music
a full sanctuary
we might not sing Christmas carols, but I suppose we could, except there wouldn’t be any Christmas carols!
3. We could have a great celebration and worship service, but where would we be with no baby Jesus?
move 2: Without baby Jesus, we would lose our hope in the God who comes to join with us and transform the world.
a. this night we declare our hope in the God who comes to live among us.
2. we gather here with family and friends in the beauty of this sanctuary, and we can almost escape the world outside.
3. Almost - but, we will go back out there.
Back to a world where violence and bloodshed continue.
where men and women from our nation serve in harm’s way
where medical issues challenge
where relationships are broken
where economic uncertainty continues
where loved ones die.
4. We desperately need hope, a hope that can only be found in the God who has come as a babe in the manger to join with us.
b. the birth of Jesus not only gives us reason to hope but introduces us to the one who comes to transform the world.
1. The baby born in Bethlehem, the one whom we welcome tonight,
grows up to be Jesus the Christ, the one who teaches, heals, and calls people to new life.
2. the one who comes to redeem and save us,
to redeem and save the world.
3. In 1966, Simon and Garfunkel recorded a song known as ”7 O'Clock News/Silent Night.
It is a sound collage juxtaposing a rendition of the Christmas carol "Silent Night" with a simulated "7 O'Clock News" bulletin consisting of actual events from the summer of 1966.
As you hear “Silent night” in the foreground, in the background you can hear clips of real life news stories:
A dispute in the House of Representatives over "the civil rights bill".
The death of comedian Lenny Bruce from an overdose of narcotics at the age of 42 [actually 40].
Martin Luther King Jr. reaffirming plans for an open housing march
The grand jury indictment of a man for the murder of nine [actually eight] student nurses.
Disruption by protesters at House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings into anti-Vietnam War protests .
A speech by "former Vice-President Richard Nixon" to the Veterans of Foreign Wars [actually to the American Legion] urging an increase in the war effort in Vietnam, and calling opposition to the war the "greatest single weapon working against the US”.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_O'Clock_News/Silent_Night)
Imagine how that song might be sung today:
Silent night in the foreground and news in the background -
news of terrorist strikes in Israel and hostages taken,
news of and civilian deaths in Israel and Palestine;
news of the ongoing war in the Ukraine;
news of divisiveness and political unrest in the United States;
4. We will, in fact, sing “Silent Night” as we light our candles tonight before going back into the world.
5. a world that still needs transformation.
A world that needs baby Jesus to arrive because he is the one who transforms the world
he is the one who comes to redeem and save all the world.
he is the one who calls us to give our lives over to him and join with him in transforming the world.
we need baby Jesus.
Conclusion: My mother’s baby Jesus was found. He’d been tucked away in a little nook in the desk, patiently waiting to become part of the manger scene this year.
We cannot skip Christmas.
We cannot skip Christmas because we desperately need baby Jesus.
We cannot skip Christmas and the coming of the Christ-child because God will not let us.
God does leave us on our own with no hope and no future.
God will not be stopped.
Baby Jesus has arrived and even now lives among us.
No comments:
Post a Comment