Sermon - December 24, 2016
We see what we want to see because the choice of vision helps manage the fear we possess of being out of control.
Tonight, the miracle is born in society, in a barn- a place with no liturgy, no carols to be sung, no readings of any type affirming the prophetic-completion of this birth. Tonight, the miracle happens in the world and the beginning of this text emphasizes this point clearly.
The first five verses set forth a historical background. This fits one of the stated purposes of this Gospel writer to "set an orderly account" (1:3) …The greater purpose of this first section is to point out the secular surroundings of this birth narrative.[1]
Because it did not happen in here, but out in the world, we need to see God actively working, as God does in our lives, to ease our anxieties and heal our wounds.
Move 1- fear first
In the year 6 AD Peblius Quirinius, a distinguished solider and former Consul, was appointed governor of Judea by Roman decree.[2] He was set to lead a volatile area where suspected zealots sought to declare their independence from Rome through their warfare. The new governor took office and conducted this census for tax purposes, and with an undertone of aggression, the entire land was anxious not knowing what the future held.
Joseph and his young- to-be-bride knew of this tension as they traveled from Galilee down the common road to Bethlehem. During that trip God was speaking words of divine comfort to ease the tension His Son would enter into.
By this point in the narrative Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, and Mary’s cousin by marriage, has heard “do not be afraid” as John’s birth is foretold to him by an angelic messenger. Mary heard those same words as the Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to her prompting her to offer The Magnificat (Luke 1) to the Lord.
Joseph, in Matthew 1, hears those words in a dream and protects the Virgin- and will hear them again as he takes him family to Egypt for safety. The shepherds in their fields keeping watch will hear them also in verse 10.
It was a world where fear was present; a world where tension was high. But into the midst of that world; God came.
Move 2- our fear
The biblical characters are not the only individuals confronted by the crippling power of fear that they cannot escape from. We know a great deal about fear as well in our lives and while tonight does not seem like the night to speak to it, tonight is the right moment for sure. As my advent devotional reminded me this week: “Life itself can be frightening and [God] tends to those moments of impenetrable death and unfathomable height that causes us to quake: conception, birth, marriage, sickness, death.”[3] God comes in the midst of it all.
While God could have chosen to only reveal Himself to the church, to the faithful, alone; He instead choose to enter the places in our lives where fear, where lack of control and anxiety dwell. This choice, made solely by God, demonstrates how important the Christmas narrative is for us. And let me give you an example…
I am very proficient in worrying, of feeling tension, of hating to be out of control. I know many people think they have the ‘market cornered’ on this, and you chuckle to yourself as I say this. But you don’t. I do- everything can be a cause for worry for me.
I worry when I check my children’s grades on the SV portal- what kind of lives will they have? What about their educational future? Am I failing as a parent to supplement their educational lessons?
I worry about my wife when she is working at the hospital- what if there is an incident where she could be harmed? She works hard what can I do to help make that more manageable?
I worry, as I do every other time after an election, about the state of our world, of our country, of this community- when will persecution come, because we know it will one day?
I worried so much as a child that I got sick on the bus going to school almost every week for years, and that was just in grades school. I thought things like: What if it’s a cloudy day? What if my lunch is not filling enough? What if I lose my house key or miss the bus? What if I have to go to the bathroom during a crucial moment in math class and then get a bad grade? What if my friends are cruel because I stutter and I begin to cry? Fear was everywhere (and honestly sometimes it still is).
But into the midst of all that tension, of all those feelings of being out-of-control, of my, and your, powerlessness against the world, God came. He did not come just into the church and the religious leaders of His day wanted. He came into the world because it was there, that the world needed Him most.
I wonder what that coming means for you tonight?
Move 3-
I don’t worry as much as I used to. In that way, I align myself with the biblical characters of this gospel narrative who hear the words: “Do not be afraid” and act accordingly.[4] They begin again to trust, and believe in the miracle. They leave their egos and their hubris, their need to control or dictate the terms of their engagement with God, behind and submit to what God is doing in the world tonight- even if that does not fit into the mindset they think it should. He came not just in here, but for everyone around us, for the world who needs Him the most.
But this, as many have argued, is a world based on power- the accumulation and control of it. Many have said, “No one tells me what to do.” “Power… plays out at every level of society.”[5] It creates the space for fear, for tension, and “becomes an end in itself.”[6]
So, God seeing all of this overrides it, defeats it, with a child being born tonight for us. He was not born in the church. He was not born just for the church. He was born for us all.
Conclusion
The census was the perfect backdrop for the miracle of Jesus’ birth- a world in shambles in need of a savior. So, a Savior came. As we finish our worship time this year, I invite you to locate the places in your life where your vision is limited by fear and a need to be in control. Find them. Look deeply at them and know that God came so that when you are at home, and not in this place, He is there to help.
[1] www.workingpreacher.org gospel lection section.
[2] www.wikipedia.com article on the 6 CE census.
[3] Ann M. Garrido, The Living Gospel: Daily Devotions for Advent 2016 (Notre Dame, IN., Ave Maria Press, 2016), entry for Monday, December 16, 2016.
[4] Luke 2:10 NRSV.
[5] James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2010), 178.
[6] James Davison Hunter, 179.
Tonight, the miracle is born in society, in a barn- a place with no liturgy, no carols to be sung, no readings of any type affirming the prophetic-completion of this birth. Tonight, the miracle happens in the world and the beginning of this text emphasizes this point clearly.
The first five verses set forth a historical background. This fits one of the stated purposes of this Gospel writer to "set an orderly account" (1:3) …The greater purpose of this first section is to point out the secular surroundings of this birth narrative.[1]
Because it did not happen in here, but out in the world, we need to see God actively working, as God does in our lives, to ease our anxieties and heal our wounds.
Move 1- fear first
In the year 6 AD Peblius Quirinius, a distinguished solider and former Consul, was appointed governor of Judea by Roman decree.[2] He was set to lead a volatile area where suspected zealots sought to declare their independence from Rome through their warfare. The new governor took office and conducted this census for tax purposes, and with an undertone of aggression, the entire land was anxious not knowing what the future held.
Joseph and his young- to-be-bride knew of this tension as they traveled from Galilee down the common road to Bethlehem. During that trip God was speaking words of divine comfort to ease the tension His Son would enter into.
By this point in the narrative Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, and Mary’s cousin by marriage, has heard “do not be afraid” as John’s birth is foretold to him by an angelic messenger. Mary heard those same words as the Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to her prompting her to offer The Magnificat (Luke 1) to the Lord.
Joseph, in Matthew 1, hears those words in a dream and protects the Virgin- and will hear them again as he takes him family to Egypt for safety. The shepherds in their fields keeping watch will hear them also in verse 10.
It was a world where fear was present; a world where tension was high. But into the midst of that world; God came.
Move 2- our fear
The biblical characters are not the only individuals confronted by the crippling power of fear that they cannot escape from. We know a great deal about fear as well in our lives and while tonight does not seem like the night to speak to it, tonight is the right moment for sure. As my advent devotional reminded me this week: “Life itself can be frightening and [God] tends to those moments of impenetrable death and unfathomable height that causes us to quake: conception, birth, marriage, sickness, death.”[3] God comes in the midst of it all.
While God could have chosen to only reveal Himself to the church, to the faithful, alone; He instead choose to enter the places in our lives where fear, where lack of control and anxiety dwell. This choice, made solely by God, demonstrates how important the Christmas narrative is for us. And let me give you an example…
I am very proficient in worrying, of feeling tension, of hating to be out of control. I know many people think they have the ‘market cornered’ on this, and you chuckle to yourself as I say this. But you don’t. I do- everything can be a cause for worry for me.
I worry when I check my children’s grades on the SV portal- what kind of lives will they have? What about their educational future? Am I failing as a parent to supplement their educational lessons?
I worry about my wife when she is working at the hospital- what if there is an incident where she could be harmed? She works hard what can I do to help make that more manageable?
I worry, as I do every other time after an election, about the state of our world, of our country, of this community- when will persecution come, because we know it will one day?
I worried so much as a child that I got sick on the bus going to school almost every week for years, and that was just in grades school. I thought things like: What if it’s a cloudy day? What if my lunch is not filling enough? What if I lose my house key or miss the bus? What if I have to go to the bathroom during a crucial moment in math class and then get a bad grade? What if my friends are cruel because I stutter and I begin to cry? Fear was everywhere (and honestly sometimes it still is).
But into the midst of all that tension, of all those feelings of being out-of-control, of my, and your, powerlessness against the world, God came. He did not come just into the church and the religious leaders of His day wanted. He came into the world because it was there, that the world needed Him most.
I wonder what that coming means for you tonight?
Move 3-
I don’t worry as much as I used to. In that way, I align myself with the biblical characters of this gospel narrative who hear the words: “Do not be afraid” and act accordingly.[4] They begin again to trust, and believe in the miracle. They leave their egos and their hubris, their need to control or dictate the terms of their engagement with God, behind and submit to what God is doing in the world tonight- even if that does not fit into the mindset they think it should. He came not just in here, but for everyone around us, for the world who needs Him the most.
But this, as many have argued, is a world based on power- the accumulation and control of it. Many have said, “No one tells me what to do.” “Power… plays out at every level of society.”[5] It creates the space for fear, for tension, and “becomes an end in itself.”[6]
So, God seeing all of this overrides it, defeats it, with a child being born tonight for us. He was not born in the church. He was not born just for the church. He was born for us all.
Conclusion
The census was the perfect backdrop for the miracle of Jesus’ birth- a world in shambles in need of a savior. So, a Savior came. As we finish our worship time this year, I invite you to locate the places in your life where your vision is limited by fear and a need to be in control. Find them. Look deeply at them and know that God came so that when you are at home, and not in this place, He is there to help.
[1] www.workingpreacher.org gospel lection section.
[2] www.wikipedia.com article on the 6 CE census.
[3] Ann M. Garrido, The Living Gospel: Daily Devotions for Advent 2016 (Notre Dame, IN., Ave Maria Press, 2016), entry for Monday, December 16, 2016.
[4] Luke 2:10 NRSV.
[5] James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford, Oxford University Press: 2010), 178.
[6] James Davison Hunter, 179.
