First Christmas

Introduction

About four days ago I was listening to my 10-15 devotional app and instead of going into scripture right away, it began with reflection on a poem called A Cup of Christmas Tea. Now I have never heard of this poem, but apparently it was regularly spoke of and a best seller and still can be found in amazon or a local bookstore. It was written in 1982 and spoke of a visit with an aging grandaunt and the meaning of Christmas and the memories they create. Written by Tom Hegg, I was more echoing with the beginning lines to the poem:

The log was in the fireplace, 

all spiced and set to burn. 

At last the yearly Christmas race 

was in the clubhouse turn. 

The cards were in the mail, 

all the gifts beneath the tree. 

And 30 days reprieve till VISA 

could catch up with me.

I was especially caught by the words “the yearly Christmas race,” seems like that doesn’t it? The busyness is real, and the malls are packed. Mailing cards to loved ones, making sure everyone will have a gift underneath the tree, and all of that on credit. In fact, I didn’t know until I searched it up, PwC, or Price Waterhouse Cooper, forecasts 24% of us will be spending more, and 59% will spend about the same upwards of $1,593 in 2019 for Christmas, which is up by almost 2%. Although online shopping is become more prominent, many people still go to a traditional mall or do both online and in-store shopping for their Christmas gifts. Just yesterday, I don’t know if it’s just me I feel lots of people are driving faster, maybe less patience. There is an urgency to Christmas isn’t it? It doesn’t help the fact you are bombarded with flyers or if you shopped online, how stores, Christians and non-, just ramped up the amount of emails they sent to you. It’s urgent, don’t miss out this last deal! Absolutely boxing week prices. Boxing week it’s now called, not even boxing day. If you let it get to you, it can be an overwhelminge experience.

Statistics on Christmas spending

Statistics on Christmas spending

Tension

Urgency of Christmas

Not only is there an urgency of Christmas, There is the Spectacular of Christmas. Who hasn’t already bought a traditional turkey and all the ingredients to make an amazing stuffing. Who hasn’t decorated their house with red and green lights, tinsel wrapped the old Christmas tree dragged out of the garage or storage, and hung the ornaments dangling and glistening under the lights. The whole family is sent to work, to clean the house to a spotless, dustless existence like we haven’t actually lived there so families and friends and guests feel honoured when they come for that once in a year visit. The plates and utensils, the best china have to be set out just right. That can be a lot of pressure. But as we make the whole experience of Christmas as error-free and perfect as we can, let’s not forget what the first Christmas is like.

There is a sense of urgency, but not how we experienced it.

There is a sense of the spectacular, but not how we would imagine it.

Primacy of Christmas

It’s recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

GOD

Luke was a historian who wrote the Gospel of Luke to a man named Theophilus, a Gentile Christian (a Gentile is anyone who is not of Jewish descent). The main reason Luke was writing was to tell about God’s role in salvation to his new community, the church. For those of you who are visiting church for the very first time, besides welcoming you once again, the reason you are here and why you just witnessed four believers of Jesus get baptized is the whole point of salvation. Salvation is God’s plan to restore a people who has rebelled against their Creator to be a people who will represent him as God’s people together in a community called the church. The central point of how this restoration of their relationship with God is going to take place is through this baby in the story. This baby will grow up to be Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Messiah, and will take upon him our sins (things we do wrong, say wrong, and think wrong, which hurt ourselves and others and break God’s heart). He will take our punishment of that sin on the cross so we can, like our four baptized Christians, have newness of life, if we put our trust in him.

This is the third announcement story, and an announcement story is simply God using supernatural means to declare salvation, God’s saving plan, is about to take place. Through this story of the birth of Jesus, the angels visiting the shepherds, and the shepherds looking for the baby who would be king, we can learn three truths this Christmas from the First Christmas. Here’s truth number one:

Why was it written?

him our sins (things we do wrong, say wrong, and thinkg wrong, which hurt ourselves and others and break God’s heart)

Announcement story #3

I. Everyone is running around for the right reason (2:3-8, 15-16)

You notice the story began with Joseph needing to go from the district of Galilee, in the city of Nazareth southwards, but upwards to the small town of Bethlehem, in the district of Judaea. The reason for this journey was clearly written, and it is historically accounted for. The Emperor Caesar Augustus, for taxation purposes, wanted to register every citizen who was part of the Roman Empire, not according to where they currently lived, but where their ancestors came from. Quirinius, governor of Syria, was overseeing the operation at the time, and Joseph, we discover, is from the city of David. David, who represented the Israeli people’s glory days, before they became conquered by a series of foreign powers. This David was the King who ruled beyond the district of Judaea and Galilee, now occupied by the Romans. His empire was vast, but now just a distant memory. Joseph is related to the king, though he is anything but royalty anymore. But amazingly, because of this long and almost forgotten lineage, he had to go with his betrothed wife, Mary. Betrothal, at the time, was a commitment somewhere between the engagement and marriage commitments that we have today. Mary, essentially, was arranged to be married to Joseph. And she was due any moment with the expectation of the firstborn son. So they travelled, and although scripture doesn’t record the exact due date, verse 6 gives some telling words:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Now I have only been married for a little over 8 months and we don’t have a child yet, but I have heard stories of my colleagues, or family members about the urgency of childbirth. When the baby’s coming, when he or she is due, they’re due. You drop everything you are doing and rush to the hospital. There is a hurried sense which probably encapsulates verse 6. Lest we be told in a famous hymn it’s a silent night, holy night, it is ANYTHING BUT silent as the mom contracts and cries out in agony. But Joseph was determined to take his wife on this long journey, probably so as not to abandon her while their first child is born. Did I by the way mention the child is not Joseph’s, as in Joseph is not the father? Long story short, the father is God, as this earlier exchange took place between an angel and Mary:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

This child is no ordinary child, yet in the haste of things, when he is due, they were not able to find a guest room. Bethlehem was a small town and possibly all other guests have already taken other lodgings, so by the time Joseph and Mary arrive all that is left is the first floor where animals live, or some believe he was in a cave. So they found a manger, that is a feeding trough for animals and laid him in there, not knowing this was exactly how God wanted baby Jesus to be.

The other moment of haste is with the Shepherds later in verse 16:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

We will talk more about these shepherds later. But the point is this: in all of the running arounds and busyness, both Mary and Joseph as well as the Shepherds are focused on one thing: the baby. Not just any baby, but what this baby represents. For us who are caught in the whirlwind that is Christmas, how might we hurry for the true reason for Christmas? But the irony is often the Christmas child is not found in our hurriedness, but in quietness and trust. Perhaps this is what the hymn writer wants to convey lyrically when they wrote silent night, holy night, all is calm, and all is bright. It is not so much what happened that night because as we see in just a second, there’s anothe reason why it cannot be a silent night. But it is the heart posture we should have as we enter into the last two or three days of Christmas. Don’t let the hustle bother you. Focus on the one you are truly hustling for, and He will give you peace in this busy season.

II. All is plain without the angelic hosts (2:6-8 cf. 2:9-10, 13-14)

The other amazing thing about this story, if you read Chapter 2 from verses 1-7, is just how ordinary the story sounds, how plain. What do I mean by that? Luke seems to be listing out one fact after another, the setting and context of “those days,” the travel to the ancestral town for Joseph and Mary to be registered. Even the giving birth scene sounds ordinary and plain. One reason of course is to highlight what lowly and humble estate this boy Jesus was born into. Although the lineage of King David says something very important about him, at least here, it is just another fact about the nature and birth of Jesus. For those of us who don’t know the signficance of the manger, you may even pity Jesus and his family and say: “well, aren’t they down on their luck! Even the inn rejected them, and he’s not even able to be born in a proper house, let alone a palace where if he were a king, he would have the right to.” Besides being an ordinary baby swaddled, that is, wrapped with tight cloth to help his body to grow firmly, and the peculiar crib in a manger, this is nothing like what all the promises of this miraculous child is like. At least, I wouldn’t have written it that way. Which is why the next scene is probably set up like a great movie just when you start to lose attention.

It starts off ordinary too, just some lowly shepherds watching their sheep as they eat their pasture at night, preventing the wolves and other wild beasts from stealing them. These may even be sheep which will later be used for sacrifice at the nearby temple. But then.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Just as the ordinariness of the event was about to come about, a miraculous explosion of celebration burst onto the scene! These shepherds were visited by one angel who calms the shepherds down first, because if you suddenly see an angel, fear not is probably the right message, because either he’s about to kill you or you are about to die of a heart attack! Pay attention to their message, that’s what the calmness was set up for, like the fortissimo after a pianissimo:

Good news! This is the Gospel! Great Joy! From which songs such as Joy to the World derive from! For ALL people. Not some people. Not just the rich and affluent, but to the poor and dowtrodden, even shepherds who were not often looked favourably on in the Jewish class scale. All people, including you and me. This baby’s birth has meaning to all of us! And now we begin to see what all this hustle and bustle is about: Mary and Joseph need to be in the right place (the city of David) at the right time (this day). This is how God planned and determined it, and this is the way in which the Savior is to come. But what about this Christ the Lord? Christ or Messiah is the anticipated King who will be from the lineage of King David. He will come to restore and establish his kingdom on earth, and the Lord is the name of the Jewish God who first saved his people by rescuing them from slavery into the promise land through Moses, another shepherd. And next verse, we come to why the manger is so important! It is the means by which the shepherds will be able to identify the baby who will be Savior. Then just to put an exclamation mark on the whole event, a multitude, the original language says innumerable bursts into an already crowded and joyous and loud scene with shout of praise, glorifying God with inexpressible delight and awe, with the promise of peace ,finally, to his war-battered, foreign-oppressed people.

The First Christmas is totally unexpected! When you think the birth would be some amazing display, it turned out to be a totally ordinary scene with a child in a manger in swaddling clothes. (And you may be asking where are the Magi or three wiseman, they actually didn’t come visit until Jesus was two years old in another gospel). But in the ordinary fields of lowly shepherds, there was an exuberant worship service like no other! Not only is God unexpected, so deep and rich we can’t fathom his ways, if we are going to make some noise this Christmas, make some noise for Jesus! Celebrate him every chance you get, tell of how he has brought you through 2019 and his saving acts and his mercies! He is worthy of our praise!

III. Two Kingdoms appear, only one shall stand (2:1-2 cf. 10-14,17-20)

Butt there is an even deeper, more subversive meaning to the First Christmas which we may overlook. Part of it is revealed in the first two verses, verses we brush aside as context, albeit important contexts. Caesar Augustus and Quinirius. It’s also mentioned in the angels’ songs of praise, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And lastly, when the shepherds hastily went to Bethlehem, they became a deliverer of a good news to Mary and Joseph.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

What did the shepherds make known to Mary and Joseph? A Savior who is Christ the Lord will bring peace on earth among those whom he is pleased with. This is told not just to the couple, but in their estatic state the shepherds more than likely shared this news to everyone in the little town of Bethlehem. Then they went back to their sheep again, and count themselves worthy to carry and be eyewitnesses to the baby who would be Savior, Christ and Lord. Their lives were never the same again.

I wonder though, if some of the people might tell the shepherds, shush! be quiet! Don’t you know what you say can get you into a lot of trouble? Caesar Augustus, the adopted son and nephew to Julius Caesar, his uncle, and whom he made divine, making himself the divine son of god; HE is the Savior who brought peace to years of warfare within the Roman empire, HE is the Lord! Now you are sharing about another one who has the same title, same accolades, and same fortitude? This can amount to treason! the Roman empire, His kingdom is already established!

Friends, brothers and sisters, there are two kingdoms which are at war, the ways of Rome and the way of Jesus. They are always at war, but historically, we know who prevailed. We don’t hear of the Roman empire or celebrate Caesar Augustus’ birth anymore, but despite Christianity no longer being believed by many in this country, we still have on our calendar a day called Christmas, where Christ is the Messiah, and not by political powers and might, but by the gathering of communities of believers whose weapon is love and not swords and guns, whose purpose is to serve, and not take, steal, and destroy. God’s kingdom is being displayed through his believers! It is a subversive war which demands those of us, including our newly baptized brothers and sisters to choose a side. Victory is won though our eyes can’t see it! But Jesus has conquered death with life, hate with love, power with service!

Application/Reflection

As we end this message, let me pose three questions for you to think about:

For some of us here, Jesus may be saying to us today: stop running. stop getting yourself caught up by one thing after another. Slow down, pause, be silent, and focus on me. My invitation is to give you rest. What’s your response?

For some of us, we need a celebration. But who is the object of our celebration? Jesus tells us: You can only be truly satisfied when your celebration is about me, when it’s pointed towards me, when I am the center of your life. How will you answer him?

For some of us still, we may have let the world’s power, just like the Roman empire, take too much hold of our life. We may want more stuff, more power, or more control, not realizing that if we chase these at any cost it could cost us our family, our friends, even our moral compass. Jesus has entered in, and he’s inviting you to abandon your kingdom of self, and live for a better, a more loving and gracious kingdom. He needs to have the throne of your heart. Will you let him reign in your life?

This Christmas, may you recapture the true meaning of the First Christmas! In a vast empire one baby was born who would cause great haste, great celebration, and the great promise of an entirely different kingdom; where the poor are rich, the lowly are exhalted, and the hurried find peace.