Christmas Eve 2023. When Reality Crashes into Expectations
Notes
Transcript
Scripture and Intro
Scripture and Intro
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The word of God for you and me the people of God. Thanks be to God.
Pray.
Disappointment is the gap that exists between expectation and reality.
When expectations are high and reality comes in under that, there is disappointment.
Honeymoon suite and then you find no special amenities, broken things, and a lamp with no lightbulb
When you expect every year to be your year as a cowboys fan and as an aggies fan.
When you expect to cook the perfect Turkey for thanksgiving and it dries out
Expectations for what marriage or parenting would be like and then the reality of hard it can be.
What about the characters in the birth narrative:
I am sure Mary had something else in mind. I mean I would think she had a different birth plan, right?
(When we were preparing to have our second child, we had this detailed plan of all these scenarios would work with childcare and getting to the hospital etc. Then we all got a stomach bug which put lauren into labor)
What was Jospeh’s expectations? Herod’s? The Wisemen?
I am certain that none of the people around the first Christmas saw it going the way it did. Reality will almost never line up with our expectations…sometimes it will blow us away and sometimes leave us spinning. But what we do in that gap has massive implications.
Response of the characters
Response of the characters
One of the greatest literal and rhetorical devices that authors of scripture, teachers in the bible, Jesus himself uses is compare and contrast. As we read the birth narratives we see all kinds of comparisons. In Luke’s gospel it is the response of Elizabeth (cousin of Mary) and Mary’s response of learning of their important pregnancies versus the response of the dads, Zechariah and Joseph. Here in Matthew it is not subtle at all about the differences of response. Herod, the scribes and the priests, the wise men. Starkly different responses to expectations crashing to reality.
Herod
Herod
Herod in the gospels is a family name. This is one of many Herods in this family that we will read about in the NT. None of them particularly pleasant. This one tries to take out 8lb 6.oz newborn baby Jesus (movie reference?) and a son Herod that would have a part in the end of the gospels.
This Herod, Herod the Great, ruled Palestine/Israel for 40 years. He was a strict Roman loyalist and one who had massive building projects to signal to Roman rulers and everyone that his kingdom in the land of the Jews was the greatest. His personality? Well not pleasant. Cruel (as seen in this text) and even imprisoned some of his own relatives if he deemed them a threat.
Herod turns to self-preservation and then fear
His expectations of success/wealth/fame/power is met with a scary reality when these rumors of a new king come on board. His response is one
Check it out….…
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
Herod tries to take control. Tries to manipulate. When disappointment or the potential of disappointment from the destruction of bad expectations come, he tries to erradicate anything that would threaten him.
Herod will make sure that he is king, that everyone knows it, and will take out anyone that stands in his way. Little does he know that this baby is THE KING and his kingdom will be above all and it will reduce the powerful in radical ways.
Priests and Scribes
Priests and Scribes
When Matthew turns to another response, he mentions the chief priests and the scribes….…
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
When Matthew groups these people together, he means to say “the top leaders of the religious establishment in Jerusalem. They are the religious elite.
When Herod calls upon them, these Senior pastors, Bishops, Superintendents, Christian authors and mega church preachers….… they know the scripture. They give the answer. But they do nothing about it.
The response of this group is apathy and numbness
The Religious people return back to their comfortable lives
Allow me a moment to creep into our comfort zone just a bit. Don’t leave now, it will be obvious. haha. We are here because we know in our minds, or somewhere buried deep inside, this is important. To what end do we give it importance, I do not know. But all of us… including myself, band, choir, everyone that planned this, ushers, volunteers, every single one of us… should take pause here. It is possible to know all the right answers. To know this story, and to miss the absolute weight, implication, life changing reality of what it means that God has come in Christ.
The Wisemen
The Wisemen
Oh the wiseman. I do not take joy in ruining kids Christmas plays everywhere but we have done a lot with these guys and probably missed the most important message from Matthew.
The Magi. Legend has grown them into 3 extravagant men. Sometimes Kings. Sometimes we even name them from legend: Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. They are mysterious, lavish, royal., In actuality, they are likely magiscians (not like bunny in hat) or astrologers, could be descendants of the prophetic school of Daniel from the OT. What we do know is:
from the east, Gentile, non Jew
They are curious and determined
They take action and God honors it.
They have a front row seat
Look at it again.
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The wisemen respond in deliberate curiosity and eventually worship.
Encouragement: They respond first before paying homage. Before worship. Before surrendering lavish and costly gifts at the crib of Jesus, they simply go. They ask for directions and clarity before they bow. If you are here tonight and you are not sure about all of this….Matthew makes it clear that a first and fully acceptable response can be curiosity.
Responding to what? (Or Whom?)
Responding to what? (Or Whom?)
Now, in order to properly place the weight of this response we must consider who is this child. We have unfortunately domesticated this manger scene. We have sterilized it.
If the Magi are from the school of Daniel like many scholars believe. They would have in mind… Daniel 7.
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
This is not just another man. When they say they are looking for king of the Jews, what he means (as Gentiles and non-Jews) is that they are looking for the promised one of this prophecy. This is not just a special teacher. Not just an historical figure. Even Jesus would say more of himself so do not reduce him to less than what he would say about himself or else….why are we here? In the words of CS Lewis, we cannot just accept Jesus as some special person or moral teacher and not consider his most radical claims…
That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher ... You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool ... or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
They are responding to something so much more. Jesus is more……than a special child
Jesus is the bread of life
Jesus is the living water
Jesus is the resurrection from the dead
Jesus is the way and the truth and the life
Jesus is the light of the world
Jesus is the slain one, bringing forgiveness
Jesus is the risen one, bringing life now and life eternal
Jesus is the king of kings
Jesus is the Lord of Lords
Jesus is the full revelation of God
Jesus is the comfort in the middle of your disappointment.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
This child is the one from the beginning.
Top
Nothing above him
nothing else to gain
nothing else to get
the goal
the end
what it’s all about… is Jesus
Following Jesus will not make you wealthy. Look at the stable, never the message.
Following Jesus will not guarantee you are healthy
The message of Christmas is not that everything will go right, but it is that he is with you and he is enough no matter what happens. This is the message of the gospel. The wisemen are responding to this…
Our response to life’s disappointments matter
Our response to life’s disappointments matter
In the end our expectations range from delusional or lacking perspective. Tarnished by life. Our disappointments are crippling and hold us captive. We know the “answers” and we choose our comfort, not knowing that comfort, too, is a trap.
And hear me… this story, it’s no nursery ryme.
It is the absolute, cataclysmic answer to the root of our expectations.
It is the answer we didnt know we needed.
It is the heaven we were made for crossing the divide we established.
It is the creator rescuing the created.
It is the God of all of us choosing to become one of us.
AND WE CAN MISS IT
OR..
we can respond in awe and worship. We can hold it in our heart like Mary. We can search in curiosity like the wiseman, and if we are ready, pay homage. Surrender. In choosing this path of response… we like the magi get to participate with the divine action in the world. If we respond, we draw near to the God that already drew near to us.
Emmanuel, God With us.
There is very little room for disappointment in this manger tonight because the expectations are being rewritten.