December 24, 2007
| Christmas Eve, 2007 | Isaiah 9:2-7 | |
| Titus 2:11-14 | ||
| Luke 2:1-14 |
Our gospel text begins with a decree. "In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered."
The Emperor made a decree! Caesar could give an order, and thousands of people had to get up, pack up, and travel on foot from one town to another in order to obey the new law. The emperor spoke, and people moved.
"All went to their own towns." says the writer. Joseph and Mary went from North to South: from Galilee to Judea, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They traveled because of the Emperor's word. They had to register so the tax collector would know every name, every household.
The emperor gave orders and those orders were carried out. People started walking. Imagine having that much power.
.
We are in awe of certain kinds of power. Some of us will do almost anything, pay almost any ticket price to see a favorite giant, whether that giant is a sports star, or a rock star, an inventor, or the best violinist. Fame is a kind of power.
We marvel at the power that is attached to wealth. The Donald Trumps and the Bill Gates of the world can do so much more than we can- they have so many more choices, and so much influence. Wealth is a form of power.
Iowa has power. Those early political caucuses mean that residents of Iowa get attention from the candidates, and from the media. Iowans of all political stripes can steer the national discussion by deciding what questions to ask the candidates.
By contrast, Mary and Joseph had no power at all. Not rich. Not famous. Talk about powerless! Even being hugely pregnant was no excuse for poor Mary. Even she had to make the journey. A journey decreed by someone with power, someone Mary never met. Her life was turned upside down because someone said so. If she could have stayed home she certainly would not have to give birth in a barn. The Emperor's decision added complication if not outright misery to her life. Couldn't God do better?
How does God meet the world's power? God sent one tiny infant to a backwater village. Maybe our worries and doubts are understandable. A baby? We want God to trump the Trumps of the world!
God does. By decree.
The text gives us another decree. There is another decree.
So says the angel. Not by popular vote, not by committee, but a decree.
But we are meant to see even more than these words. God has set in motion events long before this day.
The prophet Micah said this: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days." Micah 5:2 Bethlehem.
Now consider this. The Emperor's decree was simply the method God used to ensure that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Even the Emperor's power served God's greater power. Augustus Caesar had no idea, but he was a tool in the hand of the God of Abraham and Sara- he could not have known, yet that is the case.
Even kings of the earth have no clue where the real power is. It's like the picture of Jonah on display in the narthex. In that painting, God surrounds everything and everyone, working to bring God's mercy to fallen people.
That's what is happening at Christmas. And it gets better. All these events unfold in the sight of some ignorant shepherds. This too is by God's decision. Those shepherds were stunned, but they knew enough to rejoice.
My Friends, Merry Christmas, Blessed Christmas, Joyous Christmas because God sets in motion the saving of the world and declares it first to common ordinary people, powerless people. God declares Good News TO you. TO me. To all the people. You don't have to be powerful.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Folks this story IS about power. But God is not just one more player, playing his hand against the hand of other powers.
God's power lies in and under and over and around all earthly powers.
God's will is to reconcile the dirty world to the holiness of God. This is not a power that crushes, but a power that loves.
Before you, around you, above you. God is moving people. Christ is Born. Glory be to God.