Right Where God Chooses to Be

Merry Christmas!  May God continue to bless you during this season of celebration.  

Here is the manuscript from the sermon I preached on Christmas Eve.  The Gospel is Luke 2:1-14.

Luke 2:1-14

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  All went to their own towns to be registered.  Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.  He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

    Merry Christmas!  The day of so much wonder and joy has finally arrived.  We have waged through another busy season of black fridays and cyber mondays and endless commercials involving Santa Claus selling all makes and models of cars imaginable.  We have made it to the eve of wonder when we finally have a chance to sing our favorite Christmas songs, light candles to “Silent Night,” and gather around the manger to hear the old familiar tale of the nativity once more. 
    We know this story.  The story of the first Christmas - the story of the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, the savior of the world.  We tell it every year.  We remember it on our front lawns with plastic figurines and lights.  We act it out in the back parking lot of Bethany with people and live animals through our annual Christmas journey.  For those of us who look forward to it, because its a reminder of our childhoods, we get to hear Linus tell Charlie Brown and the whole world the meaning of Christmas, using the very words we got to hear again tonight.  We know this story.  We have been telling it for two thousand years.  We’re pretty good at it by now. 
    We know the characters.  Worn out Mary and Joseph, tired from their journey.  Baby Jesus, hopefully resting peacefully, in the manger.  The army of angels who come out of heaven in flash-mob style to surprise a rag tag bunch of shepherds who are out in the fields at work.  They’re all there, Hallmark card perfect.  The snapshot of the season. 
    But wait.  A character is missing - or perhaps he was never invited to the party.  Luke would definitely miss him if we left him out of the picture.  He is the first character Luke mentions in his story of the birth of Jesus.  Old Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor who dominates the first part of the story this evening.  The man who calls the world to attention with an ordered census.  For Luke, he is a key player in the story of Jesus’ birth.  In the first movement of the story, Caesar’s call to register is mentioned four times.  The birth of Jesus is pushed into the last line.  This is an important part of the story because it sets the whole narrative in motion.  Perhaps Caesar is worth a closer look this evening as we hear the familiar Christmas story one more time. 
    Caesar Augustus - son of God - savior of the world - divine high priest - that’s how Luke knew him.  That was who was in charge when Jesus came screaming into this world.  Caesar Augustus was the one who united a divided Rome and established a reign that was suppose to last forever.  Augustus was the center of the Roman world, and his image and name were every where.  Rome was the ultimate propaganda machine.  As you traveled around the empire you knew exactly who was in charge.  The Romans even reset the calendar for Augustus.  We know the first month of their new year by the name August today.  I dare say that if Rome could have reached into the heavens to reorder the stars to proclaim the divinity of Caesar Augustus - they would have. 
    There is an archway in Ephesus, Turkey, an ancient billboard if you will.
This billboard reads “Emperor Caesar - Divine Augustus - High Priest.”  Bold words.  Audacious words.  Elsewhere in Roman literature Augustus is celebrated as the son of god - he was called the savior of the world.  His life is told as the gospel - the good news, or good tidings - to the Roman world.  Caesar Augustus was the man in charge when Jesus was born.  And he ruled with an iron fist. 
    The time of Augustus was celebrated as a time of peace, the infamous “pax romana” - the Roman peace.  But it was a peace through violence.  Peace through military victory.  A peace that held everything in check with the threat of death.  A peace that was no peace at all to most of the Roman world.  It was this peace that ordered Joseph and Mary from their home to Bethlehem to take part in a census that was meant to number people for tax and military purposes.  This was a census to control the world.  To remind the world that Caesar was in charge.  To maintain the status quo.  It was into this mess, the chaos of fallen power, that God chose to be present in our world. 
    The crazy thing about this story, about the missing character Caesar Augustus, is that his mighty, oppressive census becomes an avenue for the power of God.  Right into our midst, right into the mess of the world, God chooses to be present.  God turns Caesar’s census into an opportunity to introduce divine love into the world.  In Luke’s story, woven into the fabric of the narrative, is the good news that God is the one who is actually in charge.  God is in control - not Caesar.  It’s a subversive claim by Luke.  Right under the nose of Caesar Augustus - who is called son of god, high priest, savior, the one who brings peace and good news - comes baby Jesus.  If these titles sound familiar it’s because we heard all of them in Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus.  Jesus is the true son of God, high priest, and savior.  Jesus is in charge - not Caesar.  He is the one who brings true peace and his life is good news all people - the whole world.
    That’s the radical message of the Christmas story - that Christ comes to us, not in a blaze of glory, but in the humility of a baby, born to a peasant girl in ancient Palestine.  Jesus came into the world, not on a throne of power, removed from the joy and pain of everyday life, but on the margins of life, right where our lives unfold.  Jesus came into the world as a bold statement that God was not ok with the way things were.  He came into the world not as a quick fix, but as a game changer.  He loved the world so deeply.  He reached out to those in need, hung out with all the wrong people.  Healing the sick.  Speaking good news to the poor.  Turning over the tables of a broken system of power -  telling everyone up to their neck in sin that God was not out for vengeance and death but for a relationship grounded in love and forgiveness.  
    This is our story.  The story of God’s love for the world.  At its heart, the Christmas story is about God, who made the world, called it good, saw it broken, and walked right into the thick of our mess.  Caesar Augustus is surely dead, we can see his great reign fading in the crumbling marble of long gone cities, but the fallen power of empire and death still runs rampant in this world.  Hate and death still plague us, sometimes at a distance, sometimes within arms reach, but it’s here all the same.  Last week I watched a 2013 year-in-review video on one of the morning shows.  I normally don't watch such things, but I got pulled in.  After five minutes I was worn out by all of the highs and lows of 2013 and was left thinking that the world needs more messages that point to God’s love.  We are people capable of incredible love, and incredible destruction.   And that’s right where God chooses to be.  The birth of Christ does not wait until it’s safe.  Jesus is born for us here and now, right in the midst of our joy and pain.  He is born again for us tonight in bread and wine, gifts of God’s kingdom.  A foretaste of God’s abundance.  Nourishment for God’s children as we head back out to share the good news.   
    We know this story, this Christmas story.  It’s a story so old and familiar, yet so new and surprising.  It is our story.  It’s a story of hope.  A story of love.  A reminder that God is indeed with us on our journeys through this world. 

An Army of Hope

Sometimes while writing a sermon I have to take a break and put words to paper (or mac screen) in order to get some ideas off the table.  Too many ideas can clog the gears of thought, leaving too many options that try to force their way into my weak attempt to articulate God’s words for us.  Rarely do this words ever see the light of day.  But there’s a first time for everything.

These are some words that I need to get out of my mind. 

There is a great deal of darkness and hate swirling around in the last week.  Now perhaps is just me and the cold germs that I currently harbor in my body, but every time I turn on the TV, read the newspaper, or float around the internet and twitter, all I come across is negativity. 

There is a war going on and its got many fronts.

There’s the war on Christmas….

…the war of words surrounding Phil Robertson and A&E…

… the war on Obamacare…

…the war of words over gun legislation - brought to fresh light by yet another school shooting…

…the actual wars raging in Syria, Irag, afghanistan…

…the actual wars raging in our city streets - I am reminded of the constant shadow of death on the south side of Chicago…

…the list goes on…

I do not record this list in an effort to bring more gloom to the table. 

Actually my purpose is quite the opposite. 

I want to talk about hope. 

Specifically the hope we have in Christ. 

As we draw closer to the nativity, moving through this fourth week in Advent, I want to add my voice to the conversation raging in the world around us.  I want to talk about hope. 

Hope comes in many forms in the Christmas narrative - too many to name - to many that still may find their way into my Christmas Eve sermon.  The one I want to focus on can be found in Luke’s version, in the fields with the shepherds, as their lives were interrupted and their world turned upside down. 

The shepherds could have probably come upon with a pretty gloomy list of events and issues that brought darkness to their lives - much like the list above.  They were outcasts of society…oppressed by empire…poor economically…unclean religiously.  They are the last folk on earth who would ever think about receiving good news - that night, or any night.  And yet to them the angles appeared. 

There is good news.

And here’s the cool part, at least for me.  As we tell the story today, the shepherds are visited by a “host” of angels…a heavenly host.  This is a very pastoral scene.  Shepherds and sheep and a large group of singing angels.  But I don't think this is what Luke had in mind.  The word for “host” can also be translated as “army.”  The shepherds are literally visited by an “army of angels.” 

Now the shepherds knew about armies.  So did Luke.  They were familiar with Rome’s legions who spread the “pax romana” - the so called roman peace - with violence and brute force.  They knew all to well the violence of an army - be it a physical force…an army of words that let them know just how outcast they were…an army of labels like unclean…an army of reminders that they did not belong. 

But here Luke offers a different army - one that truly brings peace and good news for all the world and (no categories and labels here….no paperwork or hoops to jump through - All.  The. World.) for all people.  Here Luke presents an army of peace, sent by God to a world worn out by armies of hate - be they Roman or religious or otherwise.

The shepherds are greeted by an army of peace.  This is good news.  For them.  And for us.  But the story is not over.

The shepherds are then drafted into action.  They are no longer bystanders of the story.  They are drawn in by the word of peace and hope.  They join the army.  Excitement builds and they invade Bethlehem in peace and they get to look upon the prince of peace in wonder.  And hope.  And they go back out into the world to be voices of that hope.  As they share the good news, the army of peace grows.  

As the darkness of rhetoric, of hate, of hopelessness builds around us - as the nameless armies go through their maneuvers in our midst - I wonder if we can counter them with love.  I wonder if we too can join the army of peace.  The army of the angels and shepherds and the generations that have come before us who have boldly spoken words of peace and love - keeping the flame of hope alive in our world.   

And it all starts with love. 

Love…love…love…

I am reminded of one of my favorite Christmas songs.  It’s not a traditional one by any means, but it is one that speaks of hope and love.  It was penned by Dave Matthews and is simply titled “The Christmas Song.”

One of the chorus lines begs the question, “Why in all this hatred do you fill me what with love?” 

It's a hard question.  Why are we filled with love?  And I am not here to answer it, but simply to remind.  We are filled with love.  This is what we need.  To be reminded that we are filled with love, by God, through Jesus, to be an army of hope in this world.

My hope and prayer is that we can join the army of angels - and shepherds - in speaking words of peace, God’s peace, to our world that needs this good news so badly.  That we can become an army of hope in our world.