A visitor to the zoo noticed one of the keepers sobbing quietly in a corner. He asked, “What’s the matter with that poor man?” He was told that the elephant had just died. “Fond of him, was he?” the visitor asked. “No, it’s not that,” came the reply. “He’s the one who has to dig the grave.” Things aren’t always what they seem. (Adapted from Sermonillustrations.com)
In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University. Eliot received the unpretentious couple into his office and asked what he could do. After they expressed their desire to fund a memorial, Eliot impatiently said, “Perhaps you have in mind a scholarship.” “We were thinking of something more substantial than that... perhaps a building,” the woman replied. In a patronizing tone, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple departed. The next year, Eliot learned that this plain pair had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial named Leland Stanford Junior University, better known today as Stanford! A simple, unpretentious couple… things aren’t always what they seem. (Adapted from Sermonillustrations.com)
A family brings a baby to the front of the church. After some words are spoken, water is poured over the head of the baby, and the pastor speaks the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And what we see sure doesn’t seem like much - a wet baby – at best some happy parents and grandparents and family and friends. But things aren’t always what they seem. Because God has promised to do oh so much more – He’s promised in his Word to bring faith and forgiveness! By these, God brings new life and light to the infant and ushers him into his Kingdom. The unseen hand pouring the water is Jesus’. Faith and forgiveness come as the Holy Spirit, in a beautiful, mysterious way, comes in the Word and water. Things aren’t always what they seem.
It’s tough to live in the shadow of fame. Jerusalem was, after all, the epicenter of all that was Jewish. That is where the pilgrims came for the annual religious festivals. And the little village named Bethlehem, about 5 miles south, south-west, was small, and overshadowed. Its biggest claim to fame was that a long-ago resident from there – a shepherd boy - had done good. And so Bethlehem became known - because of that shepherd boy - as, “The City of David.” Even so, important didn’t come to mind when thinking of Bethlehem of Judah. It was just a sleepy little village.
How could the prophet Micah have ever written this about that no-account little town: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2) After all, wouldn’t a ruler, whose origins are from old, from ancient times, choose an important place to be born – a place like Rome, or Antioch or maybe even Jerusalem? Could Micah have been asleep at the wheel when he penned this prophecy? Maybe the old boy misunderstood what God was telling him to write. No! It’s just that things aren’t always what they seem.
Some 700 years after the prophet Micah wrote, not even knowing the bigger purpose, a pagan emperor issued a decree that every citizen of the empire be counted. And because Bethlehem had been the home of the shepherd boy who done good, David’s ancestors had to make the trip to Bethlehem to be counted. Among the ancestors who made the trip, a very pregnant young woman and her husband, a poor, simple carpenter. The emperor thought that he was counting citizens. This young couple thought that they were traveling to a town to be counted. But things aren’t always what they seem!
That poor young couple had traveled to Bethlehem all the way from Nazareth. Because so many people were there for the census, the city’s inn was full. And while there, the young woman went into labor. They had to find a place for her to give birth. The only place was in a stable. Some think that it was actually a cave that was used as a stable. In that lowly, dank place, in the company of barnyard animals, this poor peasant girl gave birth to a baby boy. She wrapped him in strips of cloth, and laid him down to rest in the feeding trough from which the animals ate. Seems like a stable and a feeding trough are a fitting nursery for the offspring of peasants. But things aren’t always what they seem.
Out in the fields near that little no-account village were a few shepherds guarding their flocks. Except for a strange star that had been in the sky for a while now, it seemed like a normal night. But things aren’t always what they seem. Before they knew what was happening, a strange and frightening light, and an even more scary personage appeared to them. That personage, an angel, directed them to go see a wondrous sight - a Savior – in a stable? – in that little no-account village? My goodness, things sure aren’t always what they seem!
For here, beloved, in that little town; overflowing with people because of a pagan emperor’s decree, a humble young maiden named Mary gave birth to a special baby. Here the infinite and the finite intersected so that the infinite could redeem the finite. Heaven and earth joined so that heaven could bring restoration. Divinity and humanity were born on that night so that forgiveness and peace and salvation could be won for humanity. In that no-account little village, God’s wonderful plan of salvation for man began to unfold. An unknowing emperor, a peasant couple, an overflowing town, angels announcing and shepherd witnesses were used by God to take things that didn’t seem like much to bring into the world a Savior that didn’t seem like much. But then, things aren’t always what they seem!
You see, in that crib lay God. He took his first breaths as a human that night. He had to be fed, his diaper had to be changed, but He was God Incarnate. Things aren’t what they seem. God in a Crib, and 30 years later, God on a Cross. When all is said and done, we can do nothing to make what happened that night better or more beautiful. The most overpowering music or overwhelming display of lights could never hold a candle to the simple wonder of a heart captivated by our gracious God. Here He demonstrated his love - He gave his only begotten Son. When we could not go to Him, He came to us wrapped in swaddling clothes. Beloved, this is the mystery in the manger; God in diapers - here among us. And that Baby was born to be made sin for us that He might remove forever the curse of sin and the sting of death from our lives. That is the wonderful gift we have received and for which we gather tonight to celebrate and give thanks. (Adapted from an illustration in a Christmas Eve Sermon printed in ‘Concordia Pulpit Resources, Vol. 14, Part 1, page 53)
Jesus - not just a baby; not just a man, but God in a crib; and later, God on a Cross. Things aren’t always what they seem! They never are when God is involved. Merry Christmas, beloved. Amen.
