The Great Reversal

We’re in an Advent series called More Than A Manger. We’re looking at the story the Bible is telling us - how a good God made a beautiful world, how it has become broken, and what he’s done and is doing to heal and restore it - and us. The four big movements of this story are Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. And the hinge of this epic story was a baby placed in a manger 2,000 years ago. But this manger is more than a decoration; it is a declaration that what we thought was lost for good will be restored for better.

To get us in the right frame of mind, let me start with an analogy. Any Stranger Things fans? Familiar with the “upside down”. It’s a parallel dimension—a distorted reflection of our own world. Everything is familiar, yet everything is wrong. The air is thick, the landscape is decaying, and predatory creatures lurk in the shadows. It’s a world where the natural order is totally subverted.

This offers a powerful analogy of our present situation. When we begin to see the Bible as a cohesive story we realize that we are living in a biblical "Upside Down." The world we experience today—full of struggle, division, and pain—is a distorted echo of the perfect world God intended.

Today we reach the turning point in the Bible’s story; the moment when God’s promise of restoration in Genesis 3 is finally enacted. I’ve called the message The Great Reversal because, as we will see, By means of a manger God has launched his mission to bring his “right side up” kingdom to heal our “upside down” world.

Pray …

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This morning we’re going to look at the first 14 verses of Luke 2. I want to look at three reversals highlighted in this passage that has a direct bearing on your today.

The reversal of greatness.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. 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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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.” (Luke 2:1–7, NIV)

Who does the world say is important? Who does the world say are the winners? Is it not the elite, the powerful, the rich. Those who, because of their wealth or influence, seem to live in a protective bubble from the cares that most of us endure daily. Surely these are the people who God must favor. That’s certainly what ancient ppl thought - just read Job. And while we today may not put it in those exact words, we’re still inclined to assume that these are the great ones, people who stand under God’s blessing.

But now a true king arrives in the line of David. And the circumstances of Jesus’s birth are the first, clearest sign of this Great Reversal God is doing. If you were writing a script for how God’s King would arrive to reclaim His throne, you would write it like this:

Setting: Jerusalem, the capital, the seat of power, the Temple.

Arrival: A grand palace, announced to the Roman governor and the Jewish High Priest.

Cradle: A golden crib, wrapped in royal sheets.

Instead we see that:

He was born to a peasant instead of a princess. Mary, who Luke will show later is also of David’s line, wasn’t royalty. She was a common peasant girl from a backwater village. About the most unimportant, unprivileged person you could imagine.

He was laid in a manger instead of a mansion. As a newborn king, he had every right to be laid in an exquisite crib in a fancy palace. Again, we see that instead he was born like a commoner in an ordinary home. Note, this newer translation of the NIV finally gets this right - Jesus was not born in a barn. He was born in a normal Jewish home. Joseph is from Bethlehem. He would have had family here, and they likely already had relatives that had shown up and had filled the upper guest room. So Joseph and Mary stayed in the ground level area where meals were cooked and that would have had an adjacent area to bring their animals in at night. Hence the feed trough aka manger. Sorry if that spoils your nativity set.

He was wrapped in swaddling clothes instead of silk. Swaddling is how they wrapped babies back then in strips of cloth to comfort them. As a king, Jesus should have been swaddled in the finest of silks. Instead he was wrapped in the ordinary strips of muslin every other newborn baby was wrapped in.

Everything about the birth of this king scream humility. It redefines what greatness is and what it looks like. The world says that those who have abundance, those who are “winners” are blessed. The manger declares the opposite; it is the lowly who God raises up in his “right side up” kingdom.

And that’s good news for you because in this right side up kingdom of Jesus you have everything you need to be the truly great. God has chosen to work through those the world dismisses and overlooks, and to give his power and blessing to those who will imitate his posture of humility. In Jesus’ kingdom you descend into greatness.

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The next reversal we see is...

The reversal of failure.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”” (Luke 2:8–14, NIV)

If you remember last week, what echoes down to us from Eden is a great failure. Humans chose self-rule over God’s rule, and the result has led to our modern “upside down”. The fallout of these choices has led to conflict on a world-wide stage though centuries of war and all the disease, disruption, poverty, and death that goes with it. But it’s also led to centuries of local conflict - broken homes, broken relationships, broken mental and physical health.

The manger scene is more than just a sweet story; it's the divine answer to the cosmic tragedy that began in the Garden of Eden. The angel’s message directly addresses the failures of Eden, showing how Jesus is healing the world.

The fear of Eden is turned to comfort. “Do not be afraid.” In our present “upside down” we have plenty to be afraid of. We have concerns about our health, about our financial stability, about whether or not our neighborhood is safe. You don’t know if a new tariff will cause your employer to start laying off, or if the next vaccine - or restriction on a vaccine - will put your health at risk. There seems to be so much uncertainty. But in coming to a manger, the God who spoke the world into being declares that he is for you and not against you. And if he is for you, what can be against you? As you look to the manger fear is banished; God has come near to comfort you.

The sorrow of Eden is turned to joy. The angel said he had “good news of great joy”. Adam and Eve were the first people to experience the sorrow and shame that results from sin. But not the last. Our lives are marked by both of these things. Regrets over choices we’ve made. Sorrow over the loss of relationships. Shame that makes us turn away from God and from others. But the manger speaks the word “rejoice” over us, because there is nothing too lost in your life that it can’t be found again. You can’t run too far for God to reach you. Defeat is not defining. Failure is not final. God has come in a manger to restore your joy.

The conflict of Eden is turned to peace. The last part of the announcement said that the result of this birth was a new day of peace. I’ve said before that the concept of peace in the Bible is not necessarily the absence of war but the presence of wellbeing. Even now when we still live among conflict we can sing “It is well with my soul.” And the coming of the Prince of Peace gives the assurance that all the conflict that began in Eden - wars between nations, wars between family and friends, wars within our own minds - will give way to perfect peace.

All the failure brought about in Eden - all our failures - is reversed in the manger.

The last and greatest of reversals is...

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The reversal of exile.

If you read the story between the failure in Eden until the birth in a manger, you see that God eventually establishes a land and a kingdom for his people. But they continue the failure of Eden by consistently breaking their covenant with God. Ultimately, the exile experienced by Adam and Eve in Eden becomes true for the nation itself.

Seventy years later they will begin returning from exile. By the time of Jesus they’ve been re-established in their land for a few hundred years. They’ve rebuilt the Temple. Yet God never came to dwell in that temple like he did in the one before. And, they are under the oppression of Rome. And so even though they are back in their land they still feel in exile. As a nation they begin to ask, When would God come near again.

Through their story of exile we begin to see that the problem of exile is not primarily geographical. It is spiritual. Separation from God. Again, we’re reminded of the angels announcement:

“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”” (Luke 2:12, NIV)

The sign given to the shepherds pointed to how God would put an end to exile. Because this won’t be the last time swaddling clothes were used on Jesus. The apostle John tells us after Jesus died,

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” (John 19:38–40, NIV)

The swaddling clothes in the manger are a sign pointing to how God would reverse the spiritual separation and exile we all experience; through the sacrificial death of his Son.

This is the greatest reversal of all. Our king rules, not with a scepter, but with self-giving love. By his own death he has healed the division between us and God. In him our spiritual exile is over. He is Emmanuel - God with us forever.

Have you ever received this gift of reconciliation? We do that back turning away from our old life and self-rule, and surrendering ourselves to Jesus as Lord. I’d like to give you that opportunity if you never have before.

Heavenly Father, I know I have done wrong and that I deserve to suffer the consequences. But I believe Jesus died to take my place, and that he suffered death for me so that I won’t have to. I am making the decision right now to surrender myself to you and make Jesus my Lord. Please forgive my sin and make me your child forever. Amen.

Let me know if you’ve made this decision...

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Where do you need to see a reversal this morning?

Is it in how you see yourself? Do you look in the mirror and see someone of no account, someone unimportant? Does an inner voice whisper that you have no value? If so, good news! Jesus says that you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and that your identity is not in how the world values you but in how God does.

Maybe the reversal you need this morning is to come out from under condemnation. Those constant reminders of how you’ve failed and let God or others down. In Christ, your defeats don’t have to define you, your failures don’t have to be final. This morning God’s message to you is to receive his grace.

I think for some, the message this morning is about joy. Today is the third week of Advent, and the traditional theme is joy. But for you, you’ve been wearing sorrow and loss like a blanket. This morning Jesus is inviting you to step into his joy. That doesn’t mean that your losses aren’t real. That doesn’t mean you won’t still grieve. But it does mean that in the midst of loss you can experience an abiding joy, and the assurance that nothing is so lost that God can’t restore it - either now or in the life to come.

The good news this morning is that the King has come. God has launched his mission to bring his “right side up” kingdom to heal our “upside down” world by means of the manger. He has reversed how we see greatness, how we look at failure, and the distance that has kept us from him. And this good news message is for you to experience right now. The manger is a declaration that what we thought was lost for good will be restored for better.

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Invite people to stand.

Invite Communion/ministry team forward.

Every Sunday we close our time by receiving Communion together. This symbolic meal reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice. It proclaims the gospel that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. It is the source of our spiritual nourishment. We believe Jesus is present with us as we receive his body and blood.

We think Jesus invites everyone to this table. If it’s your first time, or you’re not even sure yet where you stand with Jesus, we think he would welcome you here. If you would like to participate, after I pray step into the nearest aisle. Someone at the front will take a piece of bread dipped in wine and offer it to you as the body and blood of Jesus. If you prefer not to have wine, close your hands together and that will be the sign for them to give you a sealed container with grape juice and a wafer.

What is the Spirit doing this morning?…

When Mary understood that she was to give birth to the Messiah she sang of God’s great reversal. Let’s say it with her as we go into our time of Communion:

“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. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:46–55, NIV)

Thank him that through the blood of his cross he has washed our sins away. Through his victorious resurrection he has guaranteed us eternal life. Through his ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit he has made us one with you.

We remember Him who for us and for our salvation, on the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.

Invite the worship team to receive Communion first.