Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 2:1-20
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 24, 2019

I watched a documentary-drama on PBS a few years ago called “Handel’s Messiah”. It was a theatrical production based on the story behind Handel’s composition of his famous oratorio, “Messiah”. [You know, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”]  A choir sang select passages, interspersed with narration by a British television actor. He told a story connecting the Messiah to a struggling London orphanage of Handel’s day. An actor playing Handel saw unwed mothers and destitute children who walked on the stage as he sat at his desk and wrote. So it went toward the big finish, a dramatic telling of how a charity performance of the Messiah resulted in the orphanage expanding and Handel paying off his debts. Cue the dancers and start the Hallelujah Chorus! 

It was a captivating story. One I had never heard before. But, sadly, it was told in such a way that whether Christ was born or not didn’t really matter. That he might be the Kings of kings and Lord of lords, repeated throughout the music, was given no consequence in the story. And so the whole thing, as theatrically and musically impressive as it was, just fell flat for me.

Our Christmas celebration can do that too, can’t it? It can fall flat. Even though we came home for it… were able to put a present or two under the tree… and maybe even tried to help others less fortunate do the same.  But just like a performance of the Messiah that wasn’t about the Messiah, your Christmas and mine will fall flat if Christ is but a peripheral issue in it. If whether he was born or not, whether it actually happened, doesn’t matter in how we celebrate it, then the true and lasting joy Christmas will always escape us.      

That is why we focus on Luke’s account of Christmas. Since, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he put pen to paper two thousand years ago, it’s never fallen flat. It has never disappointed. Do you know why? It’s because of the very first thing Luke says. He says, “it happened.” Literally. The first word he writes in chapter 2 is the Greek ἐγένετο,  “it happened.” The old KJV says, “and it came to pass”. Today in most modern modern versions it is simply assumed in translations, but this word was written to emphasize that what follows really did happen. It’s truth. It’s history. Luke’s Christmas Gospel does not start with “once upon a time.”  It starts with “it happened.” The God of history acted in history to accomplish his saving purpose with real people. And so, Luke mentions that a census had to be taken, so that people and property could registered on the rolls and assessed. Caesar Augustus issued the decree and it happened. Luke wants to get even more specific, so he adds that it was the first census taken while Quirenius was governing the province of Syria. This all has been verified by historical and archeological records. It happened.

And so, Joseph and Mary set out for Bethlehem, because they need to go to Joseph’s hometown, which happens to be the city of David, the very place God identified centuries earlier through the prophet Micah as the location of his Son’s birth. Now if you would have asked Mary and Joseph why they were headed to Bethlehem, I very much doubt they would have said, “Well, because we want to fulfill Micah 5:2!” They would have left earlier if that was the case. Remember, Mary was 9 months pregnant, could’ve given birth any second, and it was 90 miles on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They were going because of the census! So without even knowing what they are doing, Caesar Augustus in Rome and Quirinius in Syria and Joseph and Mary in Nazareth, bring about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Just as God planned, it happened. 

What does that mean for you? You might think that something or someone is in the way of your joy this season. Struggle, disappointment, sickness, sadness. Difficult people and difficult situations. But look more closely, are these things really in your way? Or is the God of history at work in history? Putting you where you need to be to accomplish his purposes? Why are you here? God wielded an empire to move Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Has he not also directed the seemingly ordinary events of your life in order to bring you here tonight? It happened and it’s no accident. He is at work in you, pushing past all the periphery of this season and fixing your heart and mind on the fact that Jesus’ birth happened. That’s what Luke is continues to show us.

He says And so it was, again literally “it happened”, while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (2:6,7).  Not a ton of details, here for us, just what we need to know. A baby boy was born and laid in a manger. It didn’t look like anything amazing happened, but looks can be deceiving. An angel came from heaven to shepherds watching over their flocks by night to tell them and us what actually happened. I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. (2:10,11). Not may be born, not could be born, not might be born. The angel said today a Savior was born for you. It happened. The Good News of great joy happened. God’s love happened. The fulfillment of his Word happened. God was born a human, to put himself into our sin-filled, messed-up world, into what happens to us, under what we deserve, for our sake, in order to be our Savior.  The only way this story could ever get old, ever fall flat is if you celebrated Christmas as if it didn’t happen.

Sadly, there are a lot of people who live as if it God’s love didn’t happen at Christmas. Whether it’s because they haven’t bothered to learn about it or because they just don’t want to hear about it or because they’ve been brainwashed in Christmas commercialism and think that Jesus’ birth is just a dusty story of tradition. The Devil works very hard to cover up the truth that Jesus’ birth happened. And he will tempt each of us to push it to the side. He wants us to get worried about hosting and family dynamics. He wants children to be so focused on their gifts under the tree that they don’t take any time to see their greatest gift  in the manger. He wants you to believe that because things didn’t go your way or because someone didn’t go your way, that Christmas is ruined. He wants you to pine for more money to buy gifts that people don’t need. He wants you to focus on football, politics…anything other than the fact that Jesus’ birth happened.

Thankfully, God will not allow his love to be silenced. It happened and he has been saying the same thing every Christmas for over 2 millenia: “A Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord.” His birth happened for you. He was held in Mary’s arms and placed in a manger, in lowliness and humility for you. He lived for you and wore human flesh and bone just like you. All so he could be your substitute. So that he could give you his righteousness and bear your sin. So he could die your death and give you his life! Believe it because it happened. Because it’s history. It’s the truth. It will never fall flat or let you down.

Knowing that Jesus was born is in some ways like being dealt the winning hand in poker. Have you ever played poker? I’m not a great player by any means, but one time I was playing Texas Hold’em with some friends and was dealt a pair of kings. And then on the flop, out of those first three community cards two more kings turned up. I had four of a kind! I just say there trying not to grin and not betting too high so that other people didn’t fold. Because I knew I had it. No matter what came up, in the end, I had the winning hand. No matter how the cards are dealt for you this Christmas, no matter what gifts you receive or don’t receive, no matter how  others boast, you have the winning hand. A Savion was born for you! It happened! Your Christmas joy is guaranteed in Christ. You have a reason to celebrate tonight and for all eternity! You don’t even need to worry about hiding your smile.

In closing, I think about those shepherds running through Bethlehem that first Christmas night to tell the good news of what happened. And I think about Christians throughout the ages who fixed peoples’ eyes on the reality of Christ’s birth. I think about people in my own family who focused me on Jesus. Who made a difference in my life, precisely because they believed that Jesus’ birth happened. That’s really what PBS forgot to say about Handel’s Messiah, it wasn’t the holiday spirit that saved the orphanage, it was faith in the words of the Messiah which inspired gifts for the children. And if we are to ever make a genuine and lasting difference to others in this life, be they orphans or unwed mothers or even the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers of our own families, it won’t be because we have pushed the birth of Jesus aside in order to focus on them. It will only be because we focus on Jesus’ birth that the Holy Spirit will produce forgiveness and charity in us to extend to others. Because we believe it happened, like those shepherds, we will share the good news of great joy with those near us. We will tell them that a Savior was born and celebrate together the true joy of Christmas. Amen.