December 25, 2007

                                                                        Christmas Day

                                                                        John 1:1-18

CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

Beloved people of God, grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

AMEN.

It is hard to figure our God.  So often God works in unexpected ways.  The Christmas story is a prime example.  In John 1:14 we are told that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.”  We have heard this affirmation often.  But it is not self-evident.  Who would have expected the Word of God         to become flesh and dwell among us?  Who would have expected the Son of God to be born into this world?

If he was to enter our world, wouldn’t a palace or a mansion have been more appropriate for his birth?  Instead, he was born in a barn in the small town of Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid in a feed trough.  There was not even a room for them        in the local inn.  His mother and father were common folks: Mary, a young teenage girl; and Joseph, a poor carpenter.  By the order of an occupying government, Mary was forced to travel to Bethlehem despite her pregnant condition.  It was 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem—a relatively short trip by our standards.  But for a pregnant woman riding on a donkey and her husband walking beside her, it was a long trip indeed.

It is hard to imagine any more humble beginnings for our Lord.  But those are the beginnings God chose for Jesus.  Why did God choose such unexpected beginnings?

Perhaps a brief story can help us understand why.  Once upon a time there was a European monarch who every so often disappeared among his people.  He would put on the clothes of a common laborer and walk unrecognized among the people.  By doing so, he greatly worried his closest advisors.  For security reasons they pleaded with him not to continue his walks among the people.  But the great ruler answered, “I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live.”

How blessed are we to have a God who knows how we live!  God’s Son Jesus lived among us as one of us.  He lived completely in this world—sharing our joys and sorrows, our successes and failures, our experiences and difficulties.  So complete was his involvement he was willing even to suffer and die for our sake.  Jesus the king could have said, “I cannot rule my people, unless I know how they live    and how they die.”  In birth there was no room for him in the inn.  In the end there was no room for him in the world.

As Paul writes in Philippians 2:6-8, Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”  Thus, for his obedience to God and his willingness to live among us the world rewarded him with crucifixion.

Our evangelist John puts it this way: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.    He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.”

In an amazing way God used Jesus’ lowly birth, his rejection by his own people, and his humiliating death to extend the hope of salvation to all people.

The angel chorus announced to the shepherds clearly and unambiguously that the birth of Jesus was good news for all people.  Jesus was a savior for the whole world.  Here was a good reason to glorify and praise God.  Here was a good reason not to be afraid.  Here was a good reason to hope for peace on earth, goodwill to all.

How unexpected and yet how wonderful that the good news of Jesus’ birth first came to shepherds.  Shepherds were looked down upon by the devoutly religious people of the day.  Because of the demands of caring for their flocks, shepherds were unable to fulfill all the detailed ceremonial religious rituals and laws.  That made a difference to the religious leaders.  But God did not care.  God’s message came to simple men of the fields, watching over their flocks.  And indeed, they beheld that the Word of God had become flesh and had come to dwell among us—full of grace and truth.  This grace and truth transcended religious rituals and laws.  The wonder of this glorious event was not limited to the religious elite.

The sharing of the good news of the birth of Jesus with simple shepherds offers hope to common ordinary people.  Salvation is not limited to a chosen few—     it is intended for all people.

God has a special way of working through common ordinary people.  That is why God sent his Son to live among the lowly and powerless.  God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

Each day in the news media we are confronted with a steady barrage of bad news.  In addition we face the trials and tribulations       of our personal lives.  We have so much that works to make us afraid.

What a gift to us is the Christmas message of salvation.  It is good news.  It touches our hearts and minds.  It gives us reason to hope.  It means that we too can behold the glory of the Word made flesh.

The gift of salvation is a free gift—no strings attached.  When someone gives us a gift, all we need to do is open our hands to receive it.  To receive the gift of salvation all we need to do is to open up our hearts and minds.  Christmas gifts us with the good news of great joy     of God’s love for us.  The Christ child is the sure sign of that love.  The baby in the manger is a guarantee of God’s good will toward us.

The good news of the birth of Jesus gives us at least one good reason not to be afraid this Christmas season.  Take heart.  Be of good cheer.  Our God lives among us.  God’s home is among mortals.  And our God loves us and wants us to live with him forever.

In Jesus’ name,

AMEN.