Fourth Sunday of Advent

Call to Worship

Reader 1: When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, announcing God’s plan for her to conceive and give birth to the Messiah, “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34) And yet, only a few months later, Mary sings to Elizabeth,

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name (Luke 1:46-49).

Reader 2: We, like Mary, hear God’s call to be part of making God’s dream for our salvation and flourishing a reality, and we question, “How can this be? I am only…” Yet, like Mary, the “onlys” that make us hesitate are gifts God can and will use as God’s love transforms us into bearers of good news.

Congregation: We wait as people who have encountered divine Love that disrupts the status quo and ushers us into abundant life marked by mutual love and peace that flows from the flourishing of all people.

Reader 1: We light these candles as signs of our shocking hope, our just peace, our fierce joy, and the love that transforms us. May Love grow within us, transforming us into bold witnesses of God’s salvation with our voices and our lives. Amen.

Light the four outer candles of the Advent wreath.

First Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness

a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation

and increased their joy;

they rejoice before you

as people rejoice at the harvest,

as warriors rejoice

when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,

you have shattered

the yoke that burdens them,

the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle

and every garment rolled in blood

will be destined for burning,

will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Is 9:2–7.

Second Reading: Luke 2:1-20

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to 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. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Lk 2:1–20.

Sermon:

There is always much ado about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and rightly so. Together these events are the linchpin of our salvation. Jesus prayed to His Father in the garden. Dad? Is there any other way? No? Then your will be done. If there had been any other way to save the world, God would have done it. So the cross and the empty tomb are central to the gospel message.

But this morning we roll back the story. Because if there hadn’t been a birth, there would not have been the cross. In order to die, Christ first had to be born. And I want for us today to consider what Christ went through for that to happen. We often talk about what Mary and Joseph went through but this morning I want us to consider what Jesus went through and why.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is God. The gospel of John starts, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” So Jesus was where God was. And typically, we affirm that means heaven.

Now, I’ve never been to heaven but I believe that we can imagine the most wonderful place, the most beautiful vacation spot with the sweetest sounds, the deepest aromas, and multiply that by 1000 and we might be approaching an approximation of what heaven is like. It is utter perfection.

And Christ left all of that to come here. Christ left the perfection of heaven to come here. Have you seen what it’s like here? I mean, yes, earth does have it’s positives. There are mountain views, and the ocean, there are places around the globe of incredible beauty.

And there are some things we have on earth that aren’t in heaven. Stubbed toes. Paper cuts. Broken bones. Arthritis. Sunburns. Blisters. Sores. Grief and tears. To name just a few. So when Christ left the perfection of heaven, He allowed Himself to be affected by all of the things we have here on earth.

Now, He could have come here like Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but He came as a baby born to a woman. Or as Paul says, “he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Php 2:7.

The writer to the Hebrews says, reading from The Message translation, “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.”Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Heb 4:15. Jesus left a perfect heaven and joined us in this fallen, broken, and imperfect world. He stubbed His toe. He hurt His knees. Working in the carpentry shop with His father Joseph, He probably had a few splinters, and may have smacked His thumb a few txperienced everything we do.

He became just like us. But why? Because of His great love for us. God so loved the world that He sent His Son, who did not hold on to what He had in Heaven but reduced Himself to human form, entering the world by being born as a baby to two people who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. And He wasn’t born in a hospital, or at home, or in a castle like a King should be. He was born in a barn, laid in the feeding trough because He loves you and He loves me.