Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve

Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

Luke 2:1-20

¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ 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. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ 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 in the guest room.

  ⁸ Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
  and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
  ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, ¹⁹ and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

. . .

Signs

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

After I had settled on the provisional title for this Christmas Eve sermon -“Signs” – I was immediately reminded of M. Knight Shyamalan’s Movie of same title starring Mel Gibson and Joachim Phoenix. I was like, oh shoot, I will have to come up with something else. Nonetheless, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would make a good icebreaker introduction for this proclamation event.

Those who may have watched the movie will remember that the Rev. Graham Hess, played by Gibson, is in such a deep state of grief upon the recent and tragic death of his wife that he has lost his faith and is no longer serves as a minister. Enlisting the help of his young brother, Merril, played by Phoenix – who himself had experienced deep disappointments as a failed baseball prospect – Graham now dedicates himself to raising his two young children on the family farm. 

All of sudden, strange crop circles start to appear out of nowhere on their property, while shadowy figures begin disturb the farm dogs during the day and terrorize the family at night. As the movie progresses, we learn that the crop circles are actually “Signs” of something much more frightening yet to come. Ultimately, it is an inexplicable supernatural event that saves the family and gives Graham the sign, or the evidence, that a gracious God still existed, leading him to believe again. 

As we heard the nativity story one more time. The signs of the oppression and hopelessness of God’s people living under Roman occupation and a surrogate king are all over the place. First, there is the registry or census imposed by Caesar Octavian Augustus for tax purposes. That alone was disheartening for the Israelites. 

See, the economic system imposed by the Romans was making the people hungry and sick, a system they were not raised for as people. The Sinai Covenant established, among other protections for those falling into despair, the year of the Jubilee, also known as the year of the Lord’s favor (Leviticus 25:8-25).  Every 50 years, once in a generation, those struggling to make ends meet received forgiveness for their debts, and even lost land and  property was returned to its original owners.  Every family was given a chance to get back on their feet. 

The Romans, however, were an unforgiving bunch. If one had no choice but to sell the land of their ancestors to survive, the coins they received would carry the face of Caesar and it would be the same coins one would hand over in the tax booth to settle their debts. 

The fact that Joseph had no choice but to place a very pregnant Mary on the back of a donkey to obey the decree, should be evidence enough that there would be otherwise consequences for them. God’s covenant with God’s people was one of peace, with prosperity, and wellness for all. It was meant to give life, not to take it away. It was by no means the Roman version of peace, the Pax Romana. It was not supposed to be peace by oppression enforced by tramping boots and the fear of death. It was not supposed to be like this!

The geography was the next sign of how much distress Mary and Joseph were forced to endure. Nazareth to Bethlehem was approximately an 150-kilometers hike or 90 miles. Given Mary’s condition, that is 4 to 5 days at least through hill country and rough terrain.  

Then there is the arrival in Bethlehem. In the narrative, the evangelist gives us another sign, or clue, of their potentially dreadful situation: their unconsummated marital status. Mary had become pregnant before the ceremonies were finalized. In other words, the baby would fit the definition of a child out of wedlock. The consequence for them would be shame upon meeting Joseph’s family. Scholars debate if that would be why there would be no place for them in the guest room, also translated as the “inn.” It would also be shameful for them to send a young pregnant woman away and not to tend to her in some shape and form, so it is possible Mary was offered to have her unclean baby among the livestock.

And that, God’s beloved, is the sign given to the shepherds to identify the Messiah, Christ the Lord, our Savior—a child, not a king in a gold-adorned palace, born not of honor or abundance, but ashamed and unclean, not in a solid and oiled crib made of cedar, but in an animal feeder, wrapped not in silk, but in rags used to wrap newborn baby sheep. This was the sign that the Lamb of God had come into our world, a sign of good news and great joy for all the people. 

It is a sign of great joy for all the people because it shows that God fulfilled the promise of good news to the vulnerable, oppressed, excluded, and lowly by becoming one of them. 

It is a sign of the good news of great joy for all the people because the yoke and the burden have been lifted. The rod of the oppressive forces that consume us had been broken. 

It is a sign of the good news of great joy for everyone because, despite everything, the child grew strong, unafraid, and unashamed. Despite everything, the child made everything new. 

It is a sign of the good news of great joy for all the people, yes it is!”The blind receive their sight; the lame walk; [the unclean] are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them (Lk 7:22, NRSVue).

In the gospels, God’s beloved, a sign does something more than indicate something. It reveals God’s loving and gracious power to forgive us, restore us, to make us righteous, and to set us free. That is not something we can do on our own. Only God can do for us. It is something that assures us of God’s presence among simple and ordinary things. It may not always make sense, but it is something that makes us believe. A fully pregnant woman would not have made it. An infant child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger would have likely perished. The child can only do what the child does because the Majesty of God is fully present in them. 

There may be yet another sign that reveals how powerful this story is. They are everywhere here today, in plain sight for everyone to see, for here we are, sinners made saints, set free, the rod of the oppressing forces in our hearts and minds broken so we can hear the story of God incarnate love for us one more time. Rejoice; our Savior lives. Thanks be to God. Amen.