Toward a Kinder, Gentler Creation
Luke 2:1-20
This month our nation mourned the passing of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
The thing that I remember most about the first George Bush was a theme that he wanted to characterize his presidency. He wanted us to be a kinder, gentler nation.
It is such a striking, and perhaps even foreign thought as we consider the current state of political affairs in our country, a time of tremendous division between parties, charges and counter-charges, investigations after investigations, salacious comments and accusation and a general lack of civility between parties with differing an opinions.
As we watched the tributes to President Bush, Jeanie made the interesting comment, I thought, that hardly anyone had anything bad to say about him. And indeed that seemed to be true. Bill Clinton, his political rival who defeated him for the Presidency in 1992 were among those who counted him as friends and eulogized him. I saw the latest Time magazine in which even the last Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev wrote an article remembering Bush as a friend, whose demeanor and intentions led to the dismantling of the Cold War. Obviously, there is something to be said for this president, and all that he accomplished, both in terms of his personal relationships with political opponent and even our nation’s enemies because he made a point of pursuing his ends with gentleness and kindness.
And I think it’s a them we should seriously consider for our own lives, especially as we contemplate that the Advent of Jesus Christ, God’s coming to earth to seek a right relationship with us, epitomizes those very qualities that have commended President Bush’s life and administration to us recently—that somehow there is much to be said for those qualities of gentleness, kindness and even humility as first epitomized by God, in His Creation, and then in His coming—even how He came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. How the God-man came to us, as a humility, gentleness and kindness is a model for how we ought to relate to one another, and to him. We need to embrace & rejoice in humble, gentle kindness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
This morning, we get to consider how these great Christ-like qualities were demonstrated as Jesus came into the world, especially in the circumstances surrounding His birth. Because how the God-man entered the world demonstrates also why He came—to reconcile us to Himself and to deal humbly, gently and kindly with what had separated us from him in the first place—our sins.
As we read the story of Christ’s birth this morning, something that it ought to commend to us is the kind of people God associates with—the kind of people that He comes to and makes his home with. What we see is that the kind of people God comes to be with are indeed the very thing God commends to us about himself. They are the kind, the humble and the gentle. So we could say this morning, if we want to experience God, if we want His presence and blessing in our lives, we seek to emulate the humility, gentleness and kindness of the very people to whom God the Father entrusted the upbringing of his Son, Jesus Christ. The kind of people Joseph and Mary were.
As we’ve read, it becomes apparent that some fairly tumultuous events accompanied the birth of Jesus Christ. Caesar Augustus, who ruled in Rome from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. had decreed that a census, or a registration of every single subject of the Roman Empire, the entire inhabited earth, as its stated here, needed to take place. And Luke, ever the historian, makes it clear precisely when this Census took place, likely it was the first census taken before Quirinius was the governor of Syria, the Roman Province at the time in which Joseph and Mary officially lived.
Now you should note here, that these events are firmly placed in the context of other historical events known to be present at the time, 2000 years ago, surrounding the birth of Christ. It is an established historical fact that both Caesar Augustus and Quirinius were ruling at about the time of the birth of Christ that censuses were taken in the entire Roman Empire by the Romans for the purposes of taxing the nations and the populous which they ruled over. And so what we do not have here is a fairy tale sort of introduction to this story—it does not begin like this, “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.” No, these events were historical events that according to the writers at the time occurred in the definite historical places, personalities and events that were prevailing at the time of these events. This is no fairy tale—it is historical fact.
And it so happened that this decree had a major impact upon the simple lives of these two humble people. It should be noticed at this point that these folks were peasants, they were regular people. Though they were both descendants of the great king David, and part of the royal family, Israel had been so humbled by Gentile nations during what Christ himself called the Times of the Gentles that no Jewish king had ruled in Israel for hundreds of years and these two had no special privileges whatsoever. Joseph was merely a carpenter, Mary his bride; they were living in Nazareth of Galilee and when the decree was made by the Roman oppressors, they had no choice but to obey it, just as any other subject of Rome, no matter how inconvenient it’s timing or its demands.
And its timing was, from a human perspective, incredibly inconvenient. May was 9 months pregnant, expecting her first child at any moment. They had to return to Bethlehem, the city of David, because that was indeed their ancestral home, the very place where their family likely owned property as part of Judah’s inheritance, and according to Roman Law, even every woman older than the age of 12 was required to return to the place where they owned property to present themselves personally for the census, because the taxation would likely be based on the property they owned—and it was in and around Bethlehem.
Imagine yourselves if you were in their shoes, or sandals, on this occasion. Nine months pregnant, both required by the impersonal decree of the Roman oppressors to travel three or four days journey, 60 or 70 miles, by foot, to Bethlehem during a time when many others were having to make the same kind of journey. I mean just how inconvenient and difficult the timing. More than that, you finally make it to Bethlehem only to find out that every single motel or hotel has put out no vacancy signs. How many different things could go wrong at once at the most vital time in this young woman and her child’s life. I can imagine them cursing the Romans, cursing their “luck,” being bitter and angry, complaining to one another; I can even imagine someone in Mary’s position angry and bitter at her husband Joseph for not planning ahead well enough, for not thinking there would be no room in the inn, and for forcing them to spend the night when she might give birth to her child in a barnyard. Joseph! What were you thinking! Don’t you care about me or my child!
But no, we don’t see any of this, any bickering or disputing or grumbling or complaining on the part of either one of them in the course of this difficult journey—against God, against Rome or against each other. But simply a humble, patient, kind and gentle disposition toward their circumstances and toward each other—an acceptance as though all these impositions and difficulties that had come upon were somehow part of God’s eternal plan. And I suspect it’s because they knew God’s hand was upon them, that He was sovereign over all the circumstances of the birth of His only begotten Son—that God had His reasons whether they knew them or not for all the inconveniences they were experiencing, and the reason we see no complaint, is that they humbly and therefore kindly submitted themselves to God and to each other the observance of what they were sure must be part of His plan for their lives—for whatever reason.
In fact, they may have even, and likely were aware that Old Testament prophecy predicted that the Son of David, the Messiah, would indeed be born in Bethlehem, in Micah 5:2, and perhaps marveled that they were forced to be in Bethlehem at the time of the baby’s birth. Perhaps they realized it was only fitting that the Son of David would be born in the city of David, Bethlehem, and someday they would perhaps understand that Bethlehem, the place of Shepherds, was the very place from which the lambs came which would be sacrificed as Passover lambs in Jerusalem, so it was not surprising that the actual Lamb of God who takes away thesis of the World would be born there. And more than that, that their demonstrating of humble, gently, uncomplaining submission to God’s plan uniquely qualified them to be the kind of people God would come to live with, and bless.
For that’s the testimony of Scripture repeatedly: Isaiah 57:15 says: “For this is what the high and exalted One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 66:1-2 concurs: “This is what the LORD says:
‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting-place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?’
declares the LORD.
‘These are the ones I look on with favour:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.” And even James 4:6 says, “‘God opposes the proud
but shows favour to the humble.’
And in their attitude toward the “everything has gone wrong” inconveniences of their circumstances, their submission to whatever happened as God’s plan, their patience with each other, Joseph and Mary demonstrated themselves to be precisely the kind of people God is present with, the kind He makes His home with and blesses.
And so how about you, this Christmas season? Struggling with the demands of the holiday season, do you become irritable, difficult to live with, demanding. Do you complain about your circumstances, against your mate, about life in general, or do you in humble faith demonstrate the gentleness and kindness that is part of the Christ-like life?
And even as we consider the kind of people God comes to, we ought to consider the kind of circumstances He placed His Son in. We ought to wonder At God’s humble and gentle entrance into the world. Why did He subject Himself to such humble, even mean circumstances, so that as a child the Son of God, on the day He was born, would be born in a barnyard, outdoors in midwinter, so that there would not be even a crib for him, but that His son would have to be placed into the feeding trough of animals, cows, and lambs and goats. Who among us would consider this to be the ideal place for their birth of any of our children, much less our first-born child? We ought to wonder at God’s gentle and humble entrance upon this world. It gives us a clue—that God has not come to judge us, but to bring peace and reconciliation. This is even Jesus’ statement later in his ministry, John 3:17: For God did not send His son in the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Now, we’ve got to remember as Jesus comes into the world the same circumstances infected that world back then as we see are so evident in our world today. Mankind was sinful, in rebellion against God, deserving of God’s punishment and wrath. But God, in his kindness and mercy, even in his humility, comes to us in the most gentle and humble way possible: As a vulnerable infant to begin with, born to a peasant family, in a barnyard, placed in a manger, an animal’s feeding trough. God the Father could have arranged for his son to be born to a king and a queen, in a great palace, amid great pomp and circumstances supplied with lavish riches and the best for doctors, but instead He came has humbly and gently as possible. Why, because God in His wisdom knows that the way you bring peace and reconciliation is not to come on a great warhorse, with angelic armies following, but gently, humbly and kindly, demonstrating a full understanding and experience of the difficulties we often face in this life, identifying with us in every respect, and even demonstrating from the outset, that He was willing to deal as humbly and gently and kindly with our sins as He possibly could.
Now think about this—you want to bring reconciliation between two opposing parties. How’s it going to happen—by blowing the other person away in anger, or by coming with a gentle answer, a humble heart, willing to do whatever is necessary to make things right. And this attitude was evident on all that Jesus did in his lifetime—he even said about Himself that He was gentle and humble in heart, and that all should come to him who want rest for their souls. Imagine that, Almighty God is gentle and humble in heart—the one who is great and mighty beyond all other beings is gentle and humble in heart. And more than that ultimately demonstrated that by how he sought to be reconciled to us—by dying on the cross to take the punishment for our sins so we wouldn’t have to. He is the ultimate example of gentleness, humility and kindness in that He dealt more gently and kindly with our sins than we could ever imagine—by taking the punishment for them Himself by being crucified, of all things, by the very people He had come to save. What a wonderful God, what a wonderful Savior. And at Christmas we should wonder, we should be in awe, of the kind of God, and the kindness and gentleness of the God with whom we have to do—that He would send His Son, the God-man, as a gift to pay the awesome price necessary to save us from our sins by dying humbly on cruel cross to save us from the fate we so richly deserve.
I want you to know that’s something to shout about. That’s something to get all excited about. That’s something to celebrate. And we find a great example of that in the attitude of the angels whose rejoicing overflowed from heaven on the planet earth on that fateful Christmas day.
This is a big event in heaven. You can tell, because the celebration spills over onto planet earth. And I’ll tell you what, if anyone knows what a big deal this is, the angels would know. I’m not sure we ever see anything like this on any other occasion in all of Bible history. Sure Daniel and Isaiah and Ezekiel and the Apostle John saw scenes of the throne of God in heaven with angels and all kinds of heavenly creatures worshiping God on His throne, but here, there’s a grand celebration on earth for what has just happened on earth—Almighty God Himself in the person of His Son, has humbly come to earth to save His people from their sins.
Now we ought to ask ourselves why they are so excited. Well, think for a moment. What does the Bible say about angels? What are they all about? Hebrews 1:14 gives us a feel: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” They are all about us, and serving those of us who will inherit salvation. Since our salvation is what they’re all about, you better believe they’re excited when God comes to saves us, in person! This is huge, and they know it. God never became an angel to save sinning angels—but becomes a man to save sinning mankind! What a gift! What a privilege we have.
And then think again what Jesus had to say about what happens in heaven when one sinner repents. He says in Luke 15:10, Jesus says, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” So it makes sense if the angels are excited about one sinner who repents, no wonder they are so overjoyed by the fact that God has come in person to save the whole lot of sinners who will ever repent in the person of Jesus His son.
And so this is the very thing that happens in verses 8-14: The angelic party shows up for some humble shepherds in that same region. An angel of the Lord shows up in verse 9, the glory of the Lord shines all around them, and the angel announces in verse 10: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today, in the city of David, there has been for you a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord!
Wow! Did you hear that. The Savior of all mankind, Christ, the Messiah, has been born. If the angels are excited and rejoicing about this—and Jesus came to save us—how much more excited should we be. And after announcing for these humble shepherds how they could see this great event for themselves in verse 12—that the sign would be they would find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger, a whole army, that’s the word here, a heavenly army of angels shows up praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men among whom He is well pleased.
Wow!
This is clue as to what we and how we ought to be celebrating at this time of year. Not about trees and gifts from others, but the gift of God, Jesus, our salvation. The angels would know how vital and life-giving and critical, what a grace this is, because they know about heaven and hell, they know what matters. We should follow their example in what we really do at Christmas—worshiping and praising the King and giving glory to God in the highest, for He will make peace, He gives peace to those who deserve wrath, but find favor with Him through putting faith in His Son as their Savior.
Is that what Christmas is going to be about for you—celebrating the Savior who brings great news—and peace with God. The one thing you and I most desperately need He has given freely through his death for our sins and resurrection, it was great expense to us, but freely given humbly and gently and kindly to us through this great Savior. That’s worth celebrating if you have indeed received this gift.
Well, the Shepherd are amazed! They are wondering what has happened in their midst—these little old often-despised shepherds have been given a privilege which few in all of history have had—to hear the good news from singing angels about something that has taken place in their midst—God has become amen to save us from our sins. And the angels have left behind a clue—you can see this incredible event, this incredible human being for yourself—this will be the sign, something so incongruent as to be unimaginable—a baby, the baby, the only begotten Son God can be found, not a crib in a warm place, but in animal’s feeding trough, a manger, out in the open, in barnyard on a wintry night—the Son of God came humble, and meek and kind to reconcile us to Himself by a most humble sacrifice of Himself.
And the Shepherds understand the clue is meant for them to pursue. Verse 15: When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known toes. And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph—in the original it read this way—to the Mary and they Joseph—the parents of the child, and guess what they found, they found things exactly as the angels had described them to be—the babe in a manger, the sign that this child is indeed the Messiah.
And they are an example for us and all mankind at this hour, any hour since. God has given signs upon signs about who is the Messiah, the Christ, and the Savior of the World. Born of the line of David, the son of David, in Bethlehem of Judea, to a virgin, placed in a manger, ultimately to be the Lamb of God who would be sacrificed to take away our sins, and then raised from the dead declaring Himself to be the Son of God, our Savior the very source of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
They got it. They recognized that this Messiah this Christ was worth pursuing. They pursued the experience and the knowledge of the Savior for themselves. This was the greatest event in all of history to this point—the incarnation of the son of God, the one who would save them from their own sins—this was life and death the difference between heaven and hell, and they would embrace the Savior as they embraced their own lives, because they understood he was the difference between death and life eternal.
And so I would commend their example to you this morning. Don’t miss the signs. Don’t miss the Savior. Celebrate what Christmas is really all about with all your heart, as the angels, as they shepherds celebrated and pursued knowing this Jesus for themselves, and they rejoiced, as we’re told in verse 20, as they went back to their sheep, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Yes, those angels were right. They told the truth. It had been confirmed because they had seen the sign of the Messiah in the manger, talked to his parents who confessed, Yes, they had been commissioned to bear the Son of God, the savior of mankind on that night in Bethlehem, and He indeed was the Savior of all who would come to Him in faith, even as these shepherd had.
Have you pursued the Savior for yourself. Have you received the real gift of Christmas. Because He is worth celebrating Christmas, because He is life and eternal life Himself.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whose over believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This Christmas, believe and receive the gift of God, and celebrate, in awe, as the Shepherds and the angels did, for what He has given you—eternal life!
