OPEN: (This sermon began with a clip from the Sony movie “The Star” – a cartoon rendition of the nativity as seen through the eyes of the animals that might have been there. Today’s movie clip showed Mary being told by the angel of her impending pregnancy)
The video clip we saw retold the scene in Luke where Mary was told of God’s plan for her to bear the Christ child. In that short clip we were introduced to Mary - a young girl who is shown as prayerful, generous, caring, thankful and humble. She’s just the kind of girl you’d expect God to choose for mother of Jesus
And then we‘re also introduced to an Angel. A blaze of light – a powerful creature. A little scary – but still a force from God with a message of hope. In Luke 1:30-33 the angel says “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
This one incident (this angel appearing to Mary) set in motion a journey. A journey that was going to change the world. A Journey would take Joseph and Mary to a little town called Bethlehem. And there, the Christ child would be born, and the heavenly star would appear, and the shepherds - and eventually the Wise men - would come worship.
This journey of Mary and Joseph’s would be a journey toward Hope.
Now sometimes we Christians don’t realize how significant that journey was for them because, well… that’s all taken place. Jesus is already born, He’s already lived and He’s already died and risen from dead. All that happened before we were even born.
But back then none of that had happened yet. No one seemed to suspect how God was going to do what He was going to do, but it seemed that everybody knew for certain that God was going to send… somebody. In fact that fact was repeated all thru the Old Testament: “Somebody’s coming… somebody’s coming. And when that somebody arrived, He was gonna change their lives forever. The prophecies declared what that somebody would DO, and what He’d SAY. And they also told to WHOM He’d be born.
Did you notice how puzzled Mary was? Why was she puzzled with the Angel’s message? Why? Because she’s just told she’s going to have a child and she’d never slept with a man. She was a virgin. That’s not supposed to happen. That’s not the way things worked. But that’s exactly what the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 had said occur
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
But now how could that happen? How could a Virgin possibly give birth to a child? And when Mary asks that very obvious question the angel replies “… nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
(PAUSE) So Mary’s told– that in spite of the fact she’s a virgin - she’s going to have a child she gets all excited about it!!! Even the mouse in the in movie is excited and runs out shouting: “Guys, you’re never going to believe this!”
But now, I understand people getting excited about the birth of a child, but why should anybody get this excited about the birth of THIS child? What is it about this child that would justify anybody – not only getting excited – but placing their hope in Him?
Well it ALL has to do with the things the angel said to Mary about this child.
The first thing we’re going to look at is the angel’s declaration that: “…the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:32b
The angel was simply echoing the promise from Isaiah 9:7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and THE GOVERNMENT shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT and of peace there will be no end, ON THE THRONE OF DAVID and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
You see, this child that Mary was to bear was going to be a King. He was going to our King. And His reign and kingdom would last forever … there’d be no end to it!
Now, that’s interesting. but what does that mean to US? Why should I care that Jesus was to be our King?
ILLUS: Americans are political people. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but politics is in the news a LOT these days. And everybody seems to be mad at everybody else. We tend to think that this is a new development in our days… but it’s not. It’s been like that ever since the beginning of our nation. I remember reading once about one House of Representatives went into the Senate and nearly beat one senator to death. As bad as politics are today, we haven’t quite gotten that far yet.
My daddy wasn’t too excited about politicians in his day. He thought they caused more trouble than they were worth. But he had a solution to bad politicians. He said “The most efficient form of government is a benevolent dictatorship.” And Dad was more than willing to volunteer for the job!
Now the word Dictator has some baggage to it, but it essentially means that the dictator makes all decisions. He doesn’t have to CATER to a “special interest” group. He doesn’t have to COMPROMISE with people he disagrees with. He doesn’t have to settle for ONLY PART of what he wants done to get done. As a dictator… he simply speaks and it gets done. You gotta admit… that is efficient!
But Dad wasn’t endorsing just any old dictator. He liked idea of a benevolent Dictator. Benevolent means that the person is kindly, compassionate, caring. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary says that: “Someone who is "benevolent" genuinely wishes other people well.”
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benevolent)
And that’s how Scripture portrays Jesus - Jesus is a BENEVOLENT King. Jesus is a King that genuinely wants to help us. Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
In other words: Jesus has been there and done that. He’s God become flesh and has tasted of the harshness of the life we live. He knows how hard it is to be who we are. He knows the struggles and frustrations and temptations of life. He’s been tempted as we have… but He NEVER sinned. And because He knows what our lives are like He can sympathize with our weaknesses.
So 1st – Jesus is our King (when we became Christians) and He is a benevolent King who wants what is best for us. That’s His primary objective for us.
SECONDLY the angel said: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…” Luke 1:32a
Why should that matter to us? Well, it matters because it means He not only WANTS what is best for us but He has the POWER to make it happen.
He is the SON of the MOST HIGH. This speaks to Jesus’ DIVINITY - to His being God. In fact, the phrase in Isaiah 9 that we read earlier declared that He is the “Mighty God”. And one of the names for Jesus is Immanuel. “Immanuel: means – “God With Us.”
When the Gospel of John starts out it describes Jesus as “The Word” - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4 and 14
The Word became flesh. The Word became the Son of the Most High. And that Word WAS God – God in the flesh. Jesus was God with us. And that’s pretty much the consistent teaching throughout the New Testament.
But here’s the deal: Because Jesus IS God in the flesh.. He has the POWER to make difference in our lives. And why is it important? Well it’s important because now that Jesus has the POWER… I can relax. I don’t have to sweat anything. Jesus has the power to do whatever needs done in my life. That doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily do what I WANT done, but He will do what NEEDS done in my life.
I know that as long as I live on this earth, bad things are going to happen. Nothing I have on this earth is going to last. As Jesus said: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Everything I call my own is going to rust, decay, get lost or stolen… or die.
And I know that while I live on this earth I’m going to get hurt, and I’m going to get sick, and (unless Jesus comes first) I’m even going to die. And you’re going to die too. But even in the midst of the harshest things that can happen to me in this life I know that Jesus will be there WITH me. He’ll never leave me nor forsake me. And when I die, I know He’ll carry me safely over to other side to live with Him in heaven forever.
As Paul wrote: “I can do all things through Christ who me strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) I can HANDLE all things thru Christ who gives me strength! And that gives me the power to live life through my faith.
ILLUS: About 100 yrs before Jesus was born, there was a man named Archimedes. He was a famous inventor and mathematician. He once said, “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.” And he was right. He was stating an insight that physics teachers have taught students for centuries.
But Archimedes was right about this spiritually: the place we can stand is Jesus, and the lever that moves the world… is our Faith in HIM.
One person observed: Faith is the link that binds our weakness to His power.”
Lastly, the angel said to Mary “…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31). This is perhaps THE most important thing that Gabriel told her that day.
Do you know what that name “Jesus” means? (It Means “Savior”). But what’s He going to save us from? That’s right – our sins. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that a little later - when Gabriel visited Joseph – Joseph is told Mary is going to have a child and the angel says “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will SAVE his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
A lot of people look at Christmas as the most important season of the year. I read recently told that merchants make over 60% their yearly income from Christmas sales And people (especially merchants) count the days until Christmas comes. I think I saw a sign at Walmart that declared “Only 365 days until Christmas.”
And there’s a festive excitement that surrounds December 25th. Everybody decorates their homes, the city puts up lights everywhere, and Logansport even had their “light parade” last Friday. It’s an exciting day for just about everybody.
There’s a comic strip called “Family Circus” that looks at life and faith) thru the eyes of children. In one of their comic strips a 5 year old named Dolly holds up the baby Jesus from a Nativity scene and declares: “Here’s the Star of Bethlehem.” But in another insightful cartoon Dolly’s mother is holding a crucifix (a cross with Jesus still nailed to it) and Dolly says “I liked seeing Jesus in the Manger better.”
(Pause) Really? Why would Dolly prefer the Child in the manger to Christ on the cross? Well, because babies in their cribs are cuddly and innocent and approachable. Jesus on the cross… not so much. On the cross we have nothing but sorrow and pain… and loneliness. That doesn’t appeal so much to children.
But that’s why Jesus came to begin with. Without the Cross, the manger is just a cute little story with no real hope. Without the cross there’s no forgiveness of sins.
ILLUS: I visited with a woman not long ago who told me that it was hard for her to believe God loved her. She said she’ messed up so much and sinned so much in her life that she couldn’t imagine Him wanting her. And I can identify with that. There’s been times I’ve been by myself – maybe in the kitchen or in the shower – and I remember something I’ve said, or something I’ve done, or something I’ve thought - that makes me feel bad about myself. And at that moment the shame of that memory washes over me as I realize how stupid I’d been. Have you ever felt that way? Sure you have.
But then the woman I visited said that the one thing that gave her comfort was the knowledge that God had sent His Son to take all her sins away. God so loved her that He gave His only begotten Son so that her sins could actually covered by Jesus’ blood. It’s a tangible thing she could actually feel.
That’s why, every Sunday we have communion. Week after week after week, we take of the cup and the bread to remind us of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Now some folks never quite get it. They take of the emblems and it’s just a religious thing they do. It never hits home for them. But for the rest of us – the ones who understand how great a price God paid to remove our sins – the bread represents the body of Christ that was broken for our sins, and the cup represents the blood of Jesus that was shed to cover our sins.
CLOSE: Now, there are preachers who don’t like preaching about Christmas. They don’t preach on the manger and the stories related to it because they think this Christmas thing distracts from the real message of Christ – the cross and the empty tomb. And they have a right to do that… but I think they’ve missed something.
Two of the Gospels not only tell the story of the baby Jesus, but they spend a lot of time introducing us to people who worshipped Him. There are FOUR CHAPTERS in those Gospels that dwell on Jesus’ birth. Why? Why would God waste that much ink and paper on Jesus’ birth? Well, because that’s how God wanted to introduce Jesus to us. God wanted us to see Him as a baby… helpless, vulnerable, and loving.
ILLUS: Have you ever noticed what happens when a family brings a baby to church? What happens? Everybody flocks to that child. Everybody wants to hold the baby and make cute little noises and contort their faces to make the child smile. Everybody seems to make fools of themselves around these babies. Why? Because there’s something comforting about a child. Babies aren’t intimidating. They don’t threaten us. They make us feel good about ourselves.
And that’s the beauty of the Gospels telling of Mary giving birth to a baby boy. That’s why the story of Jesus BEGAN with His being a little child - because in that baby in a manger, we begin seeing Jesus as someone who is gentle and would accept us as we are. And for centuries that’s been the message and the power of the manger.
CLOSE: I want to close with the true story of a missionary team had been invited to Russia to teach Christianity. It was Christmastime, and as they taught the story of Christ's birth at an orphanage, everyone listened in amazement. None of the kids or the staff had ever heard it before.
One of the missionaries wrote: "We gave the children some materials and instructed them to create the manger scene that they had just heard about. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat; he looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. But the startled missionary saw not one, but 2 babies in the manger.
He called for a translator to ask why. Looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib his own ending to the story.
"He said, 'And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mama and no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him forever.'
"Putting his hand over his face, Misha's head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. But his were not tears of sadness, but of joy: he had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him. Someone who would stay with him forever." (Story related by Stan Cole)
INVITATION
