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We have come here tonight to celebrate our dear Savior’s birth. Hopefully, the Christmas shopping and hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas has been completed. So at last, at least for those of us who did not find the time during Advent to wait quietly upon the Lord, we can now at least breathe a sigh of relief that we have lived to see another Christmas.
Here we are once again waiting with expectant joy for perhaps a moment of knowing the peace ushered into that holy night of so long ago. It is not that most of us do not know the Christmas story full of angels filling the sky with joyful singing and shepherds rushing with expectancy to see a king born in a lowly stable. A young mother exhausted from travel and labor marveling at her newborn lying in a feeding trough; while her protective husband stood guard as strangers came bursting in carrying their lambs into a stable already full of animals. It was a night like no other night.
Not exactly the kind of place one would hope to have one’s child born. It did not seem fitting for the King of Kings to choose to begin life on earth in a place where animals stayed. There were no hospital gowns, not even a clean sanitary spot in the entire stable filled with unclean hay where this incredible birth occurred, but it did not matter. The Creator of the Universe had created a new Garden of Eden within the rough hewn walls. Like Eden of long ago, animals, birds and creatures of every kind, even the spiders were there to weave a new web to announce the beginning of the Jubilee age for the world. A Jubilee Year is known as a time set aside for restoration and forgiveness of debts. From the birth of this one child a new age of Jubilee was ushered in of forgiveness and restoration for all of humanity with the Father God.
After this night, the world would never be the same. No longer would humanity be condemned to eternal bondage of sin and death. Instead, the new life born this holy night would breathe freedom and life into this world of sorrow and despair. Where there had been no hope, now hope would reside. Where there had been no joy, now joy would fill the air. Where hate ruled, now love would be sovereign. All of creation changed that night. All of creation, except we humans could feel the change that happened when the Son of God breathed his first breath of human life.
For the majority of humanity that holy night was just another evening; but from the moment the virgin’s womb gave birth to the Son of God, the promise given in Eden was fulfilled. The promise from God Almighty to send His Son to crush the power of evil over creation came to us disguised as a vulnerable baby. The sweet gift of love given for all to receive came so gently to us that most of us did not know. Only a handful of shepherds were told by special heavenly messengers of the dear Savior’s birth.
God came quietly to us. In the stillness of the night as the people in the town of Bethlehem slept. Covered in darkness, this gift of love wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. The animals watched, while the doves cooed the first lullaby to the Virgin’s Child. The words of the prophet Isaiah were fulfilled that night, who proclaimed in ancient days: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Over two thousand years later, most of the people in this world still do not understand the importance of that holy night. For many, Christmas is just another excuse for parties and gift-giving. Sadly, the Giver of the greatest Gift is often ignored. Yet, there are those like all of you here tonight who remember the true reason for this special season. So we have gathered here once again to remember the birth of our Savior.
With all of our contemporary inventions and gadgets it is difficult for us to truly grasp the primitive environment in which Mary’s child was born. The inn not only had no proper room available, but there wasn’t even a birthing stool like the one used by Mary’s cousin Elizabeth when she was birthing John the Baptist. The carpenter and his bride were shoved away into a corner of a stable to birth the Savior of humanity. Surely this was not God’s plan? Or was it?
By being born in a lowly forsaken place, God had placed His Son from the beginning with the poor and the outcasts. His Son would know from His first breath the air of humility. No marble floors. No rich robes. No delicate foods. Even the poorest of the poor would be able to claim the Son of God as their Savior. With this one act of humility, the door of salvation was opened for all.
So here we are waiting once more for this Christmas to be something different. Perhaps this Christmas our hearts will connect with the Babe in the manger. Maybe, just maybe we too will hear the songs of the angels and for just even a moment feel the rush of angel wings ushering us into the very Presence of the Living God. This could be the Christmas that will change our lives forever just like the birth of God’s Son changed creation on that holy night so long ago.
The Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace is waiting to establish His kingdom within us. He alone knows the sorrows in our hearts. He alone knows the emptiness that fills us. He alone knows the poverty of our soul. Do we dare to put our trust in the One of whom the Angels sing? Do we dare to allow the Holy One to be born within our hearts anew? Or perhaps even for the first time experience the joy that knows no bounds? Hopefully, we can come like the shepherds of long ago with unguarded wonder to kneel before the Holy Child and allow a new song – a song of joy - to fill our souls. Merry Christmas!
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