This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, December 20, 2015. The Bible verses used are Luke 2:1-21.
What we read for today in Luke is what we think of when we think about the Christmas story. It’s the bit Linus reads in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. It’s Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus in the stable with the shepherds around. This is what we want to hear on the Sunday before Christmas. After all, who does not love hearing a story about a baby?
And it is an amazing story, really. The divine Son of God, taking human form, coming to earth to live among us. Living as a human being, feeling all the things we feel, enjoying all the things we enjoy, suffering through all the things we suffer through. Limited by all the limitations we have.
You know, at Christmas, we talk all the time about Mary and the faith she had and all the suffering she endured. And that’s appropriate, because she did have tremendous faith and she did have to endure a lot of suffering. And we talk about Joseph, and the faith he had, and all the things he had to do, taking care of his family and so forth. And that’s appropriate too, because Joseph did have tremendous faith and he did have to do a lot of things to take care of his family.
But we never talk about the sacrifice Jesus made and the suffering he endured. I mean, we talk about that during Lent. We talk about how Jesus was arrested and beaten and tortured and ultimately killed on a cross. But we don’t talk about the sacrifice Jesus made just by coming to earth in the first place. In fact, we usually don’t think about Jesus’ birth that way at all.
But we should. After all, we’re told that Jesus, the divine Son of God, was with God the Father from the beginning. Remember what we read in John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus, the Word, was with God the Father from the very beginning. And Jesus had been with God all through everything that had happened since, everything that had happened up until this point in history.
And now, Jesus was separated from God, just like we are. I mean, yes, Jesus had divine powers, power that you and I do not have. But I have to think he could not possibly feel the sort of connection to God the Father that he had in heaven. He had that same separation from God that we have. He could pray, of course, just like we all can, and he could go meditate and try to feel close to God, just as we all can. And there were times, such as at the transfiguration, when he was briefly given some of that connection back. But for the most part, when he was on earth, it looks like Jesus was separated from God just like you and I are.
I wonder when Jesus really felt that. I assume he knew it was going to happen, but when did he really start to feel it? Did he not feel it until he was an adult, and fully realized who he was? Did he feel it already when he was young, during that episode when he was twelve and went off by himself, away from his parents, to go and visit with the rabbis? Or did he already feel it in this scene, as a baby, when he was lying in the manger with Joseph and Mary beside him?
Whenever it was, it had to be really hard for him. He knew it was going to happen, or at least I would think he did. I’d think Jesus would have to have known, when he agreed to come to earth and live among us, that he would not have that same connection to God the Father that he had while he was in heaven. But did he really understand what that was going to feel like? Did he know how hard it was going to be to lose that connection with God, even if it was only going to be for those years on earth?
It had to be a hard thing for Jesus. It was a tremendous sacrifice Jesus made. He voluntarily gave up that connection he had with God. And he did it for us. Jesus gave us an amazing gift when he did that.
You know, when you think about it, Jesus really gave up his life twice for us. We know about how Jesus gave up his earthly life for us when he died on the cross. But Jesus also gave up his heavenly life for us when he was born to Joseph and Mary in the stable.
Jesus gave up his earthly life on the cross to save us from the consequences of our sins. He took the punishment that should have gone to us, so that if we simply believe in him, we will go to heaven. And that’s an incredibly awesome thing.
But Jesus gave up his heavenly life to do something just as important. Jesus gave up his heavenly life to come here to earth and live among us. Jesus gave up his heavenly life so we could know God better and understand God better. Jesus gave up his heavenly life so that we could see who God is and how God wants us to live.
In other words, Jesus gave up his connection to God the Father so that you and I could have a connection to God. Before Jesus came, people did not know God, not in the way you and I can. They did not have a personal relationship with God. Oh, maybe a few of them did, the great prophets like Moses and Joshua and people like that, but not everyday people. Not people like you and me. There was no thought that common people could just talk to God. Why would God listen to you? Why would God listen to me? If you wanted to talk to God about something, you went and talked to the priest. You asked him to pray for you, and they you waited and eventually asked the priest for God’s answer. The priest might be able to talk to God, especially if he was a high priest, but you and me? No way.
And Jesus changed all that. Jesus came and showed us, individuals, common people like you and me. He showed us how to talk to God. He showed us how to listen to God. He showed us that we did not need to go through a high priest to talk to God, we could do it ourselves. Everyone—you, me, and everyone else you can think of, from the highest of the high to the lowers of the low—can have a personal relationship, a personal connection, to God. Jesus gave up his connection to God so that you and I could have a connection with God.
Did Mary and Joseph understand that, do you suppose? Probably not. Not totally, anyway. They probably understood some. They knew this was a special child. The angel had told them that he was the divine Son of God who would save people from their sins. But did they really appreciate how that was going to work or exactly what it meant? We don’t understand it that well now. Could they really have understood it then?
But you know who maybe did understand it? The shepherds. You know, as you look at this story, the shepherds really don’t seem to have that much of anything to do with it. They did not know Joseph or Mary. They were nobody important or special. They were just ordinary people, people like you and me. They were just getting by in life, doing their jobs, doing what they had to do. In George Carlin’s phrase, they were doing just enough work to not get fired and getting paid just enough not to quit.
And then, all of a sudden, an angel appears to them. And then a whole company of angels. And they tell these shepherds about this incredible thing that’s happened. And they tell them to go see the baby.
And they do. And they know. They don’t know everything. They probably don’t understand what Jesus had to give up in order to be born as a human being. But they know something is different. They know they have a connection to God they’ve never had before. And they know that, somehow, this baby caused that. They know that somehow, in some way, the birth of this baby means that they are connected to God in a way they never were before.
And they know that they’re never going to lose that connection. They know that connection they have to God will always be there. And so they go away, happier than they’ve ever been in their lives, so happy that they cannot help but tell everyone they meet about this incredible thing that’s happened, this incredible thing that they’ve not only seen but that they’ve felt in their hearts.
We have that same connection to God that the shepherds had. We have it through Jesus Christ. And that connection will always be there for us, too. We can give it up. We can let it go. But God will never take it away. Any time we choose to turn back to God, that connection to God will always be there for us.
Jesus gave up his life in heaven to give us life on earth. And Jesus gave up his life on earth to give us life in heaven. It’s an incredible gift. It’s the gift of Christmas.
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