Humble Beginnings
Luke 2:8-20
December 16, 2007
A couple of years ago, Toni and I were trying to get home from vacation. Our plans called for us to catch a plane out of Miami International Airport to Chicago and then on to Fort Wayne. The problem occurred when we arrived in Miami just a day after a hurricane had gone through.
The city was still cleaning up, businesses were just beginning to open again, and the airport was in chaos. We were told that we would have to check back the next day to see if there were any seats available to Chicago. So we had to go find a hotel near the airport, and it took us several hours of waiting in line to get a room. We were harried and not in a very good mood.
To be honest, our trouble wasn’t the fault of the airport. It wasn’t the fault of the hotel. It wasn’t the fault of the city. It wasn’t the fault of the other thousands of tourists trying to get home. But at the time, we were not happy at all.
The next day, we arrived at the airport pretty early in the morning. After waiting in another line that I thought would never end, we finally made it to the ticket counter. The guy there said that there just weren’t any seats available for Chicago that day. And then he said, “Let me check one more thing.” After consulting his computer again, he said, “I do have two seats. They’re in first class. You can have them for the price of coach if you want them.”
That is about like asking a cheerleader if she wants new pom poms. “We’ll take them,” we said.
Now I had never flown first class before; always have been back in the cattle car section. I could get used to first class. I don’t know if any of you have ever flown first class before or not, but it was a great ride.
We got seated first – in wonderfully wide leather seats. By the time the other passengers started to get on, we already had our first beverage in our hands. When we got into the air, they brought us lunch. While all of those poor folks back in coach were munching on their bags of peanuts, we had real food…in real dishes…with real silverware.
And then the flight attendants came offering us either Red or White wine…in real glasses. Now I think I know how you expect your pastor to react when offered wine. I think I know how my bishop expects me to act when I’m offered wine. So we’ll just let it go at that.
I could get used to flying first class. Last year, Toni and I were coming home through the Charlotte airport. Now, I’m a pretty big guy, but there was a guy next to me on that flight who was at least another half of me. I was in the middle seat and he was on the aisle. I had a glass of water on the tray in front of me when I drifted off to sleep. Midway through the flight, he got up to go to the restroom, bumped my tray, spilled my water all over my lap, and didn’t even know it. I was miserable for the rest of the way home. Yup, I could get used to flying first class.
As you know, I grew up in a working class household here in Fort Wayne. My dad worked in a factory all his life. It was honest labor and he did a good job. We were far from wealthy, but I can’t ever remember not having cookies to snack on after school. We always ate well. I always had good clothes. We only had one car, didn’t have a lake cottage or a boat, and didn’t take very many vacations, but we still had it pretty good.
I married a young woman whose father, like mine, worked hard for a living. They too, weren’t rich, but they had everything they needed.
Did you know that there are about 6,000 members of the Saudi Royal Family? One of their princes, who wealth comes not only from oil, but also from international business associations, has just purchased a new private jet. This is the new Airbus 380.
The Airbus 380 weighs in at an astonishing 560 tons, compared to Air Force One’s weight of 333 tons. The Airbus is the new double decked model which, when outfitted for passengers, can seat up to 853 people. For the prince, it will have a flight crew of about 15 members.
The list price for this plane is $320 million, although the royal version will cost much more than that. Once delivered, the plane will boast of 6,000 square feet of living space complete with bedrooms, a conference area, a royal lounge, an office, a private dining room, a movie theater, and a gym with a Jacuzzi. It is possible to convert the cargo area or third level into more bedrooms or other living space. Now, we’re only talking about a prince here. Can you imagine what the king gets?
Think for a minute about the King of Saudi Arabia, the Queen of England, the King of Spain, the Queen of Norway, the King of Jordan, or other kings and queens that I know nothing about. What is one thing they have in common? They are rich. Really rich. Not just well off. Not just wealthy. They are downright rich.
It sort of boggles the mind when you think about Jesus. He was the one born, not only to be King of the Jews, but King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He rules not just over a certain territory on the earth. He rules over all of it. He is the one before whom the other kings bow down.
You might think that he would be deserving of some nice accommodations. You might think that he would be worthy of some first class service. Surely it wouldn’t be too outrageousness to put him up in a luxury sweet at the Ritz.
When I was in Junior High School, Johnny Rivers sang, “It’s hard to find nice things on the poor side of town.” None of us want to grow up on the poor side of town. None of us want to be from the other side of the tracks. Surely it wouldn’t be too much to ask for the Son of God, the King of the world, to be born in a little luxury.
But no. When Jesus was born, he was laid in a manger. This wasn’t one of those romanticized mangers from our nativity scenes. He wasn’t surrounded by sweet smelling hay and softly calling farm animals. Without a doubt, this manger was made out of cold stone and was found in a backyard barn or a cave. It was cold and dirty and dark and smelly. Some birthplace for a king, isn’t it?
My understanding of the cultural context into which Jesus was born was that there was a very small middle class, a little larger upper class consisting of religious leaders, civil and government rulers, and large landowners, and the much larger lower class. Jesus was born into the lower class of people, most of who lived in desperate poverty. You may wonder about the evidence on which I base that theory.
Back in the 12th chapter of the book of Leviticus, you find the prescriptions for sacrifice following the birth of a child. The woman is to bring a sacrifice of a year old lamb and a pigeon for the offering. If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two pigeons. We know from the second chapter of Luke, that when it came time to bring the offering to the Temple after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph brought two pigeons. This was clearly not a wealthy family.
People like to say that Jesus isn’t about politics. But I disagree. In the ninth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet says that anew king is coming. “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6).
The prophet Micah says, “But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel…” (5:2).
In the gospel of Matthew, the magi come seeking the one born to be king of the Jews. An angel appeared to the shepherds in the gospel of Luke telling them that a Savior had been born; one who would be Christ the Lord.
Ruler. Prince of Peace. Mighty God. Savior. King. Lord. All of those titles were ones used to describe the Roman emperor. With the coming of Jesus, God is very clear that things have changed. The old ways of thinking, believing, and acting are over. The old titles of royalty are ended. The old royal privileges are thrown by the wayside.
Jesus, the new king has come not just for the elite of society. Jesus has come not just for those who eat the finest food, live in the most luxurious of circumstance, attend the finest schools, or hobnob with the rich and famous. Jesus has come to replace the old order of reality. Jesus has come to turn the world upside down. Definitions of power will change. Pictures of dominance will change.
The meanings and definitions of wealth will change. Those who once thought of themselves as being rich will actually be poor, and those who once were on the fringes of society will be the new rich. Being rich will no longer be defined as having a pocket full of gold coins or a stock portfolio that promises extraordinary returns. Rich will come to define those who are engaged in the life of the Spirit, fully conversant in the ways of the kingdom, and completely convinced of the necessity of a life of servanthood.
Had God so chosen, he could have slipped the Messiah into a bed of ivory and gold in Solomon’s palace. He could have adorned his crib in fine jewels and provided servants to meet his every wish. But instead, God sent the Savior of the world into a family of made up of a poor carpenter betrothed to a teenage girl, into a smelly stable, and into a back water little town in a back water little province on the outskirts of the Roman Empire.
This is a story of a Savior for all of us. We don’t have to fly first class to meet Jesus. We don’t have to stay at the Ritz to meet him. We don’t have to enjoy access to the centers of power and prestige to meet him. We don’t have to have royal titles to meet him. We don’t have to be members of society’s elite to meet him.
The throne upon which this child born to be king will sit reveals that a new world order is upon us. This is a world no longer under the rule of the Caesars of the world. This is a new world that listens to the voices of the humble. This is a new world that pays attention to those on the fringe of society. This is a new world in which the wounds of the broken are bound, the poverty in the souls of men and women is alleviated, the voiceless are finally heard, the oppressed and enslaved are freed, and the Word of God is delivered to everyone.
These humble beginnings in Bethlehem are not so humble at all. God has not forgotten us. God has not forsaken us. God has not ignored us. God has not abandoned us in favor of the rich and powerful. Every one of us in this room today has access to the King. Regardless of how humble our own origin, the King of Heaven has come down to us.
That is the story of Christmas. As the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians: “Christ Jesus…though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”
This humble Savior born to be King is coming. My prayer is that we are not too proud to bow down before him. Amen.
