Isaiah 9: 6
Philippians 2:5-8
Luke 2:1-20
Christmas
Those words, "There was no room for them in the inn," remind me of an experience my family had several years ago. We were on our way from New Jersey to Michigan, going up through part of Pennsylvania, and then New York State. We had been busy packing and then traveling all day, and we were trying to find a motel where we could spend the night. It was getting late, and the children were tired and fidgety. As we drove along the highway, our hopes were downed time and again by the sight of NO VACANCY signs. We drove and drove and drove, until finally, many, many miles beyond where we had planned to stop, we found a vacancy.
Think of Mary and Joseph. How much worse it must have been when they arrived in Bethlehem and found no rooms available. I can imagine Joseph pleading with the manager of the inn, telling him of Mary's condition and their desperate need for a suitable place where she could give birth to her child. Luke tells us, "there was no room for them in the inn," and that when Mary gave birth to Jesus she "wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger."
Today, 20 centuries later, millions of people have no room for Jesus. Although they participate enthusiastically in the festivities of the Christmas season, they keep Christ out of their lives. The "No Vacancy" sign is there, in their hearts.
Sometimes this is because of lack of belief. Sometimes it is because they think that being Christian removes their freedom to live a “normal” life, the kind of life they see around them every day and on TV, the kind of life that is so seductive to us and our children in this day and age. After all, isn’t it true that if we believe, we then have to give up our Sunday mornings of freedom, to come to church and participate in inconvenient activities at inconvenient times. And church services can be so uncomfortable and boring. Right?
Sometimes the “No Vacancy” is there because of fear. Fear of the unknown. Perhaps fear that the story of Jesus may not be true and therefore a waste of time. Or perhaps it is fear the story might be true and shatter our complacency, and force us to face God directly. Too many of us have been taught that if God does exist, He is a God of wrath and we will be punished for all the things we have done wrong, and all of us have done many wrong things in our lives. Too many people have forgotten that the story of Christ’s birth is the beginning of the Good News of God’s unconditional love for us, His yearning to bring us close to Him, and His forgiveness of all our sins if we simply choose to believe.
In the Christmas narratives, there are several "fear nots." In the Gospel of Matthew there is the "fear not" of immediate obedience: "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto you Mary as your wife :.. Then Joseph ... did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him". Think of all that had to be going through Joseph’s mind when Mary to whom he was engaged told him she was going to have a child. He knew it wasn’t from him. But to believe that it was from God? Too much to believe wouldn’t you think? He was afraid for what should happen to her under the law. If he publicly broke their commitment to marry, she would be stoned to death. He was afraid for himself if he did not break from her. But then the angel came and said, “fear not”.
There is the "fear not" of salvation: "And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings...which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord". Can you imagine the fear of the shepherds all alone out in the fields when all of a sudden this tremendous light flooded them? Then there is the "fear not" of the humanly impossible: "Fear not, Mary:... the Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you:...For with God nothing shall be impossible". Mary must have had some fear along the way. She knew the penalty for unwed births. Would Joseph ever believe her? Would anyone?
Another is the "fear not" of unanswered prayer: "Fear not, Zechariah: for thy prayer is heard; and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John". Zechariah was a humble priest, in the linage of David, whose wife could not have children. Then one day when he entered the temple while on duty there, an angel appeared to him. Can you imagine the sudden rush of fear that entered him when this stranger came out of nowhere in what was supposed to be an empty room where only he should have been present as the priest on duty?
In the Gospel of John first chapter we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
In one moment, one seemingly insignificant measurement on the span of time, "The Word became flesh". In that moment undiminished Deity became humanity. What an incomprehensible thought. In one moment the one who created all things became a person, like you and me—Emmanuel, God with us. In one moment "the Lord of Glory” became a child of earth. The tiny Babe lying in the manger of Bethlehem was the One who had been present at the creation of all the universe and all we know. The tiny, chubby baby hand upon the cheek of his mother was the hand of Him who holds the universe in the hollow of his hand. The baby arm about the mother’s neck was the arm of the one whose everlasting arms are underneath all things. The first words of the toddling Child of Nazareth were the words of the One who spoke the earth into being and who created a universe by the Word of His mouth.
We don’t like to think of him as being "just like us", but the "King of the Jews" sometimes had a dirty diaper. The "Rose of Sharon" sometimes needed a bath. The "Altogether Lovely One" sometimes needed to comb his hair, brush his teeth and wash his face. There may have been times when he had a cold or the flu or maybe heartburn from his mother’s chili.
In one moment spirit became flesh. The very God of very Gods entered the womb of a teenage peasant girl. In one moment God took on skin and hair, teeth and toenails. In one moment the invisible God became the visible, touchable, pierce-able, whip-able, nail-able, Emmanuel—God with us.
In one moment divinity took on the garb of humanity so that you and I could experience the full love of God and His gift of salvation. In that one moment, all our sins could now be blotted out. But that would not accomplished with decrees from the courts of law. It would be accomplished, it was blotted out because in one moment the Word became flesh. In one moment true grace appeared and we received grace and truth by Jesus, the baby who was the Christ.
Christmas is the story of the beginning of our salvation by a great and mighty God who chose to reveal himself to us as a child born in a stable to a teenage girl and a poor hard working carpenter. It is the story of pure love come to earth so we might be served and forgiven. It is the story of God fulfilling our every need by becoming one of us so we could see His love poured out for us.
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.
Amen
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