“a Way In A Manger”

“A Way In A Manger”

Luke 2:8-20

Intro.

This month more than a billion people will celebrate Christmas. Amid candlelight, carols and the smells of cedar and incense, the old story will unfold again: Gabriel’s visitations, the journey to Bethlehem, the arrival of the baby in a stable, the glorious announcement to the shepherds in the night, the star in the East, the mission of the Magi. The story is familiar, and in a world of great religious diversity where there is great doubt and disbelief about all things biblical, it is not doubt or disbelief that you and I who have gathered here must typically guard against. The danger we face each year is simply familiarity: knowing the story all too well, so well in fact that we miss its wonder.

During a Christmas pageant, one child had been forced to be in the program by his parents. The young teen continued to voice his concerns as they practiced. He would utter things like;

• "How can people believe that Jesus is the Son of God?"

• And "just what makes everyone believe that this is the way to heaven?"

• He finally said "how do we know He was the Messiah and that He was the way to Heaven"?

Then a small girl spoke up, and She said, "We believe it because the song said it". And he said, "What song", the teen huffed back.

She politely said, "You know what song I’m talking about, that one that God made, and he said again, what song, and she said, “A WAY IN A MANGER”.

God made "A way in a manger!" What a brilliant message. A message that the Savior of the world was born! That the Savior, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us has come to make a way for us. Remember, it was the angels message, "For see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: “for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.... wrapped in bands of swaddling cloth and lying in a manger”.

And with the angel of the Lord appeared with a "multitude of heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace among those whom he favors”. A host of angels proclaiming a message that God had made A WAY IN A MANGER!

Now "What if":

• What if, God spoke to you the way He did Mary? (to go tell the disciples that is has risen)

• What if, God gave you a mission like He did the Magi? (to go a follow the north star until they find the baby child Jesus)

• What if, God gave you a witness like He did the Shepherds? (be not afraid, go tell the others this day a child is born). But now the most pressing question of all is.

• What if, God gave you a message like He did the Angels? What would you do? Don’t answer, cause you might tell on yourself.

It is a rhetorical question of course, because the message of the angels is the same one we are still to proclaim today, that the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord, has been born to be the Savior of the World.

A message that God made A Way in a Manger!

So, what if God gave us this message to proclaim, and He has, how are we to respond?’ If we respond a little like the angels, it will be something like this:

Even in a manger:

I. He’s still a Way Maker! (Have He ever made a Way for you)? Don’t fool me now.

• Have He ever open doors for you that was closed in your face.

• Have you ever paid your bills when you knew you didn’t have enough money to pay it with, but you got it paid any way.

• Have you ever put into a uncompromising position only to have Jesus give you a way out. That’s the Way Maker

It’s time for the message to be spoken about in our daily lives as individuals, and when and where possible, we should join together as a multitude, the body of Christ proclaiming a message that the Messiah has come! It is the Church in corporate witness to the world! Some people ask, "why do I need the Church"? And I do believe we need the Church, for spiritual growth, for accountability, for nurture; but I also know that the Church of Jesus Christ needs you, because together we can accomplish so much more than we can individually. Our witness and the proclamation of the message of the good news of Jesus Christ must be individual and it must be a join effort as one body in Christ.