I Don’t Mind…
A Christmas Sermon
Back in the day, in the 1960’s, our country was going through a wee bit of cultural upheaval. Up was down, left was right, inside was out. A part of this cultural upheaval was the so-called “God is dead” movement in which philosophers and pundits and even a few theologians talked openly about the so-called “death of God” and how religion was unnecessary, spirituality a myth to be busted.
Into this black hole of confusion
and controversy that was the 60’s came my friend Dave, recently graduated from
theological seminary, coming to stand before the Presbytery to be questioned on
his beliefs so that he might me ordained.
Well, given the days, you won’t be surprised to find out that the old
timers, the traditionalists among the clergy, were very concerned to keep the
rabble rousers out; they wanted to be certain that the new ministers would
preach the “faith once received.” So
the old timers made sure to ask the “really important questions, the ones that
matter,” to each and every seminarian, questions like, “Where do you stand on
the virgin birth?” Everyone got this
grilling, no exceptions, except my friend Dave.
The way Dave got out of his being
grilled by the old timers is this: Dave was one of two seminarians who went
before the Presbytery that day. The
other guy was named Bill. And Bill had
had a really lousy week, full of family problems, financial woes come due, you
name it Bill had had to deal with it.
So when one of the old timers asked Bill, “Where do you stand on the
virgin birth, young man,” Bill was in no mood to give the usual song and
dance. Bill knew he was faithful; he
was in no mood to prove it to this guy barking at him. So when the old timer asked, “Where do you
stand on the virgin birth,” Bill responded, “I don’t know…I guess if Joseph
didn’t mind, neither do I.”
And so flustered were the old timers
that they forgot to ask Dave anything.
*****
You know, there are a lot of things
about the Christmas story that I don’t mind.
I don’t mind that the first people to hear about this blessed birth were
shepherds. Did you know that in first century Israel shepherds were considered
outcasts? Yup, even though Scripture
talked about God as the good shepherd (Psalm 23), conventional wisdom of the
day said that shepherds were a part of the unrighteous because, by definition,
they had to work on the Sabbath and their travels often took them into unclean
Gentile territory. They were not
welcome in polite society. I don’t mind that God made it clear to them and to
all people everywhere and for all times that those considered outcasts by
society, those considered unclean by the culture, those considered unworthy to
be a part of “polite” society, are made most welcome among the people of
God. I don’t mind that God loved
society’s outcasts then, and God loves society’s outcasts now.
I don’t mind that the song the
angels sung was “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all, on
whom his favor rests.” This songs begs
us to ask a question: where should we put the comma? In the original language of the Greek New Testament, there are no
punctuation marks; we have to supply them for English. So, do we put a comma into our translation
after the word “all” or not? I don’t
want to get bogged down in an English lesson here, but think about it: the
angels might be singing “peace to all upon who God’s favor rests.” No comma.
In this case God’s peace rests upon whom he favors. If God likes us, we get God’s peace. Or, we might add a comma and say, “peace to
all, upon whom his favor rests.” In
this case, God’s peace is for all because everyone, all of us, are those upon
whom God’s favor rests. You might think differently about this, but I think the
angels are announcing the good news of highest heaven for all the earth: God’s
peace is given to all in this baby, his Son.
Not just to some. Not just to
you. Not just to me. I don’t mind that Jesus is for all
humankind.
I don’t mind that Simeon and Anna
had their hopes fulfilled. Simeon and
Anna aren’t major characters in the Christmas story; they show up in Luke’s
gospel a few verses after Jesus is born.
Luke tells us that they were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem and
that when they saw the Christ Child, when they saw Jesus, they knew that God’s
promise of peace had come. Simeon and
Anna have an elegance and grace about them.
There is something that happens when older folks continue to believe;
their faith is often quite different from that of younger folks. Younger folks often get caught up in the
hustle-bustle of things, but faithful, God loving, God trusting older folks
know what really matters; they focus on that which endures, that which is
eternal. So it is that older folks can
be so much more appreciative of the simple pleasures and cherish a little baby,
for they are willing to accept that he is the Christ Child. I don’t mind that God honors the faith of
the ages through the faithful aged.
I don’t mind that through Jesus, the
Word made flesh, light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome
the light. We live in a world of much
darkness. Some of it is of our own
causing through personal, spiritual brokenness, which the Bible calls sin. Some of it is due to rhythms of life which
seem to be completely random. I was
reminded about this latter kind of darkness this past week: on Monday night my
sister, who lives two miles from my father, called to tell me that our father’s
house had burned to the ground. The
tragedy of this fire is doubled in that this past June my mother died. The house was all my mom: every flourish,
every detail cried out, “Myrna was here!”
So this is obviously tough on my dad especially to have lost her and all
the keepsakes in the same year. But in
the midst of this week my family and I are thankful that no one was hurt. We are thankful that my sister’s friends,
some of whom live paycheck to paycheck, have dropped by new shirts and new
pants and new shoes in my dad’s sizes.
We are thankful for the twin seven year old girls who live two houses
down who took it upon themselves to go door to door through the neighborhood
asking for donations. My dad certainly
didn’t need the cash, but he cherishes the light and the love these little
girls brought to him. It is this kind
of light and this kind love that Jesus shines into the world. I don’t mind that
the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome the light.
I don’t mind that Jesus is named
what he is named. We call him Jesus,
but Mary and Joseph named him in Hebrew, Y’shua,
which is called Joshua and which means “God saves.” Jesus means “God saves.”
And God does save. And you and I
need saving. Let’s not pretend we
don’t. In this world of war, in this
world of arson, in this world of troubled families and sorrowing hearts, there
is plenty enough blame for all of us.
In the words of the old comic strip, “We have met the enemy. And he is us.” It’s not that we don’t try; we do try, but we need help. Thanks be to Jesus; thanks be for God
saves. To be saved is to accept that
God loves even – and perhaps especially – the outcasts. To be saved is to accept the favor God
desires to give to all humankind. To be
saved is to grow into the grace and elegance for which we were created. To be saved is to allow the love and light
of God to flow through us into the dark places of this world. To be saved is something we all need, some
for the first time, some once again, all of us forever and ever. I don’t mind that Jesus is named “God
saves.”
*****
Where do I stand on the virgin birth? Well, I’ll tell you. I’m thankful for it. I don’t mind that God
loves us enough to send his Son into this world. I don’t mind that God chose to
use this child, fully human and fully God, to be the bridge for us over which
we cross into his kingdom. I don’t mind that God honors our human experience by
sharing it. I don’t mind that God shows his almighty power in the tender
helplessness of this child. I don’t
mind that God shows his everlasting glory in the humility of Jesus.
Where do you stand on the virgin birth?