A Tale Of Two Kings

Our text for this morning is Luke 2:1-7, the story of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. You’ve probably heard it many, many times before. Can there be anything new in it, any way that this ancient text relates to our world today? Let’s see. I encourage you to open your Bible to it as Linda reads and to pray that God would help you see new things, even here. You can find it on page 58 of the New Testament section of your pew Bible. Please stand for the reading of God’s word.

“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.”

Luke tells us about two different kings in this short account. They represent two very different worlds and lives.

The passage opens with the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus firmly in control. He needs a better idea of how much tax money he can get from each district, so he gives an order for everyone to go back to their home towns and be counted. Where is Augustus as he announces his decree? Probably a beautiful throne. And what kind of a room is he in? I’m sure he was in a palace with every comfort and convenience that could be had. And what happens when he gives a command? People jump; even people hundreds of miles away. And you know that people weren’t happy about the inconvenience of having to be counted. They knew it would probably lead to more taxes. But they went. Augustus had all the power. He was in the driver’s seat.

Augustus was one of the greatest of all the Roman emperors. It might make for a more dramatic sermon to say he was a terrible emperor, but it wouldn’t be true. Augustus was about as good as they got. After decades of civil war, he unified the Roman Empire and brought peace. He did it by defeating Cleopatra’s boyfriend, Mark Antony. He passed legislation to encourage family life. He organized a fire department and a police department for the city of Rome. He cut the size of the armies way down. Rome’s military budget was bleeding the nation dry. He treated the veterans well, giving each one land of his own. Towards the end of his life he boasted that he had found Rome made of bricks and left it made of marble.

People talked about Augustus as a prince of peace and they spoke of the 41 years of his reign as Pax Augustus, the Peace brought by Augustus. He personally wasn’t into the emperor worship stuff, but many people talked about him as a savior and a god. A record has been found of one of his birthday celebrations that described his birthday by saying that “the birthday of the god has marked the beginning of the good news through him for the world.” It sounds like something about Jesus from the Bible, doesn’t it? “The beginning of the good news through him for the world.”

Let Augustus symbolize for us the very best of the human political endeavor, the very best in his time in our feeble human efforts to live better, to be better.

Couldn’t we all get caught up in supporting a leader like this, strong, wise, who can deliver the goods of a healthy economy and world peace? If somebody made the offer, we might be tempted to trade Augustus for some of the leaders we have now.

Wouldn’t it be exciting to see him go by in a grand royal procession, surrounded by the brightest and best that Roman culture could produce?

And then we have this other king. Where is Jesus in this story? In a manger, a feeding trough. At this point he doesn’t look like a king at all. He’s just a little baby. His parents are poor peasants, nobodies. The best bed they can come up with for him is a manger, a feeding trough for livestock. When Augustus ordered that his parents needed to jump, they jumped. They traveled 90 miles with Mary in her pregnancy. The pictures show at least Mary riding on a donkey. We don’t know if she had one or not, but that’s the best we could imagine for folks as poor as they were.