A Song, A Star, A Savior

Luke 2:1-20

 

In a Family Circus cartoon, Dolly, the little girl, is sitting with her baby brother, PJ on her lap, and she's telling him the story of Christmas. Dolly's version of the story goes something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The three wise guys and all the Elves sang carols while the Little Drummer boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw this star...." Hey, give Dolly credit: she got a lot of the basics of the story right; she just mixed and matched the sacred with the secular. Call Dolly's version "Sacred Tradition, Secular Revisions (We've Made Over the Years)."

 

Tonight, I would like to tell just the sacred part of the Christmas story, the part that brings us here, the part that makes us wonder and fills us with awe, the part about a song, a star, a Savior.

 

First, we need a song. We can't really tell the sacred part of the Christmas story without song. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the sounds of the carols as they fill the air: "Silent Night," "O Holy Night." "Joy to the World." Our hearts rejoice to hear the triumphant hymns and tender carols that herald this special moment, the birth of the Christ Child. I can't imagine Christmas without listening to the sound of choirs and carols. There is something about Christmas that calls out for our music to be filled with praise and adoration. And the greatest Christmas song of all was the song the angels sang to the shepherds on a lonely Judean hillside: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to all, upon whom God's favor rests."

 

What a wonder this song is; what good news! But it calls to us with a question: should we put in a comma? In the original language of the Greek New Testament, no punctuation marks are given; all punctuation is inferred. So, do we put a comma into our translation after "all" or not? I don't want to get bogged down in an English lesson, but think about it: the angels' song might be saying "peace to all upon whom God's favor rests." No comma. In this case God's peace rests upon those he favors. If God likes us, we get God's peace. Or we might add a comma and say, "peace to all, upon whom God's favor rests. In this case, "upon whom" refers back to "all" and God's peace is given to everyone; God's favor rests on all. 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 some. Not just you. Not just me. Jesus is for all humankind. And in Jesus Christ, God's favor rests upon us, upon us all. This is a song worth singing.

 

Second, we need a star. We need a star worthy of our following. This may be one of the greatest needs of our time and generation. We need to find a star, a singular goal, an ideal upon which we can gaze and toward which we can move together. One of the great tragedies and ironies of our multi-media age is that we have an abundance of stars. just none worthy of our following. Many, many people follow Hollywood stars, while other folks follow music stars, and still other folks follow business stars or sports stars. We may track their careers or emulate their behavior or buy the products they endorse. We may not even do this with any overt, conscious intent, yet too often they are the model set before us...and we follow them.

 

But what we need to make a true Christmas story is a different kind of star. We need a star like the Wise Men followed: we need a vision, a vision of a better world, a vision of the world that sees that God is bringing his peace through his Son. We need to follow this star, this vision, and so believe that God's peace comes through God's Son That vision, that star, will guide and direct all of our living.

 

Harry Fosdick tells of a church on the coast of England that had been destroyed in a storm back in the days before GPS. Its members felt unable to build it again, and the ruins remained untouched for some time. One day, however, the British Navy sent a representative to the church to urge its rebuilding. He told the people that if they did not rebuild the church, then the government of England would. This is what he said; 'That spire is on our charts and maps. It is the landmark by which the ships of the seven seas steer their course."

 

Our world is searching for something to believe in, someone who can adequately guide our course. People will follow the brightest star they see; well, we have the brightest star there is, for we have Jesus Christ. And the world is desperate to see who we see. Our world wants to know that God is among us; people are looking for the Church to put that star back into the heavens.

 

Finally, we need a Savior. All the songs and all the stars and all the sheep and all the shepherds in the world do not and cannot a Christmas story make. Without Jesus, there is no Christmas. And so perhaps the most important question that we can ask tonight is, "Who is Jesus Christ for me?" If we have not yet reached an answer to this question, then we can never fully understand the meaning of the story we read tonight.

 

Jesus is more than merely the infant in the manger. If we stay there, in the stable, we have not fully met Jesus. No matter how warm and cuddly our feelings may be, no matter how tender, the babe we worship tonight does not and cannot tell the full story of Jesus.

Jesus did not stay an infant. He became a man. He walked among us in the cruel world of Roman occupation and the arrogant world of religious rigidity. To both worlds he spoke with authority, in both worlds he acted without compromise. His life led him to death, even to death on a cross.

 

Jesus gathered his friends and followers-his disciples-and they lived with him, traveled with him, ate with him, argued with him. They were together for many months, as many as three years. But even from those closest to him Jesus eventually demanded of them an answer to his question, "Who do you say that I am?" Who is Jesus Christ to you? Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Tonight we kneel before the cradle, but we remember the cross. We have come to worship the baby, but we remember the man, the man who was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

 

In the city of Rome there is a palace with an incredibly high dome in its center. Inside that dome is a painting by Guido Reni called "The Dawn." In order that visitors may see the masterpiece, a table has been placed directly beneath the dome, and on the table a mirror. When one looks into the mirror, one sees the majestic painting far above. That's what Jesus' birth does for us; that's what the incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter and crucified, is all about: Jesus is the mirror image of God. When we see Jesus, we see the eternal, infinite and most holy God of the Universe.

 

Do you want to see Almighty God?  Then look at Jesus.  Do you want to see the glory of God?  Then look at the humility of Jesus.  Do you want to see the power of God?  Then look at the love of Jesus?  Do you want to see the passion of God?  Then look at the manner Jesus treated the poor? Do you want to see the wrath of God?  Then look at the cross of Jesus.  Do you want to see the victory of God?  Then look at the joy and peace in the heart that, like Mary, allows the Christ to be born into the world.

 

My friends, the world needs to see Jesus, not just as a baby, but as Son of the Living God who can teach our hearts to sing. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to all, upon whom God's favor rests." The world needs to see Jesus, not just as the one in the cradle but as the One who went to the cross for our sake, and so as the Star who can guide our living. The world needs-we need!-to see Jesus for who he is: the mirror image of God, the One who gives our life a song and a star, the One who is our Savior.

 

We come tonight to kneel before the cradle of the Christ Child. We come tonight to remember the cross of the Christ. We come tonight to know the presence of Jesus among us. As we kneel, as we remember, so may we pray, "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus." Then within our hearts we'll hear afresh the song and behold again the star. And our Savior will be born anew in our lives to make us his own.

 

Return to Sermons Menu