It’s great to be here with you tonight. Christmas Eve has always been one of my favorite nights of the year … and all the more as it’s become a night in which I get to share it with the “extended family” that come and gather together in this service.
It’s a particularly provocative time to celebrate the coming of Christ into this world. For in 7 days we will enter the year 2000… a date based on calculating his birth. While that may be off a few years, it is no less amazing that the one whose birth we celebrate still fills this world with wonder.
No other figure has entered our world that defines and divides human history as Christ has.
As the recent cover story of Time magazine says…
“It would require much exotic calculation to deny that the single most powerful figure – not merely in these two millenniums but in all human history – has been Jesus of Nazareth.” (Time, Dec. 6, 1999)
> And so tonight, over a billion people, from every continent, will stop at the wonder of the birth of the Jesus… called Emanuel… which means “God with us.”
When Isaiah the prophet of God wrote down these words he was given,
Isaiah 7:14
“...the Lord … will give you a sign (of the Messiah who will save you).. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Could Isaiah have imagined how enduring and extensive the reality of “God with us” would become?
That 2000 years later human hearts would still need to hear the good news…. As gather in a season marked by our desire to be connected… longings we may fill only in part by gathering with family… or may feel even more deeply when we can’t.
Could Joseph have imagined what all this meant? He must have wondered.
This name “Emanuel, God with us,” wasn’t written within a Christmas card with sentimental greetings. It didn’t come with soft pictures but in the stark reality of human life.
As he reflected upon the reality behind the name “Immanuel”… God with us, there is so much he must have wondered about. He must have wondered about….
Bethlehem… the most unlikely CITY…. the last place. Rome, Ephesus, Alexandria. It was “nowhere” . Most people left this little lost town to go somewhere. Shouldn’t surprise us that there was no room at the only Inn in town that night…. because when the census the Gospels refer to demanded that everyone return to their hometowns …. Bethlehem had a lot of “get out of this nowhere town” returnees.
Why such a city? What was God trying to communicate?
> That because it was a city so common, no city could be forgotten or far from God.
- No one would ever have to think their city was too little or too lost for God.
..After all, this was Emanuel, God with us.
But what of the PLACE… a barn. Joseph must have wondered.
Nativity scenes today, with their European influence, don’t depict just how dark and cold this place really was. Many suggest it was actually a small cave.. one of many insets into the hillside that allowed a little protection for the animals. The trough simply an indentation carved out in the rock for the animals to eat out of. It was stone cold and saliva stained.
Why such a place? Why not wait for the Bethlehem Hilton.. or a palace.. or a mansion?
Because it was a place so common that no place could be forgotten or far from God.
No place could ever be too dark, too dirty, too cold, or too lonely for God’s presence.
Because many would look up at the majesty of God’s calling and wonder as they find themselves in the midst of the mundane … and need to know that God is closer than they think.
Yes, this was Emanuel, God with us.
And His name? Joseph must have wondered.
Jesus …. Simply the Greek form of Yeshua.= Joshua. Really as common as any name could be.
Certainly not fitting for a king. (Randall or Charles) Today parents choose names to set them apart. Celebrities get rid of anything common and choose something classy… Irving Johnson… Magic Johnson. Ralph Lauren… real name is Ralph Lipshid. (Joke)
>>>but God says just call him Josh.. Jesus.
A name so common, that no name would ever be forgotten or far from God.
Emanuel… God with US.
Perhaps Joseph wondered would he’d look like. His APPEARANCE?
After all he wasn’t likely to get to see himself in this son, but he could at least expect something extraordinary with God as the father.
But no, just as God had prophesied through the prophet Isaiah,
Isaiah 53:2
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
“…a tender shoot…out of dry ground.”
> Dry ground doesn’t produce particularly strong physical life.
“Nothing noticeable about him.” - A guy you could pass in the crowd.
In fact Jesus did in fact often slip away into the crowds. And Judas would have to identify him by giving him the customary kiss on the cheek when they came to arrest him.
What was God trying to communicate to us?
That He didn’t come to impress us … intimidate us… but to be one of us…to be with us.
An appearance so common that nobody’s appearance would ever be forgotten or far from God.
There was nothing to distinguish him so that there could be nothing in appearance to disqualify us.
For he is Emanuel…. God with us.
Perhaps Joseph wondered about the GUEST LIST.
When one’s child is born … one naturally thinks about who to call first. It’s a proud moment. A time of honor.
We’re told that an announcement did break forth … that for a brief moment a multitude of angels could be seen and heard… providing the greatest choir that ever sang on earth.
Their audience? Roughly 4 shepherds and 175 sheep.
(Not exactly a Martha Stewart affair.)
Shepherds weren’t just simple people….They were despised by orthodox religious leaders of the day. The constant demands of the sheep made it impossible for them to observe all the details of the ceremonial law… all the religious rules and regulations.
There was no opportunity for self righteousness in the hearts of shepherds.
But they did understand one thing…. the cost of sacrifice that was made for our sins.
From the outskirts of town they had birthed, raised, and cared for countless lambs which were used in the temples for sacrifices.
They who looked after the temple lambs were the first to see the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Their lack of pretense was perhaps their only qualification.
They were visitors so common that no visitors would ever be forgotten or far from God.
Emanuel…God with us.
Perhaps Joseph wondered most about himself… and Mary.
Could any two people be more unlikely to have God involved with them?
The angels must have been shocked as they took one look and realized this was no king and queen … they weren’t even religious leaders. She was just a Jewish peasant girl who had barely outgrown her acne… amid a culture for whom all respect fall to those of age and wisdom. And was hooked up with a guy named Joe…. a poor carpenter .. a nobody.
Think about it. God is going to have dinner every night with him. The source of all wisdom is going to call this guy "Dad"? A common laborer is going to be charged with giving food to God? What if he gets laid off?
What if he gets cranky?
What if he decides to run off with a pretty young girl from down the street?
> The fate of the world resting on the response of two rural teenagers.
People so common that no common person would ever be forgotten or far from God.
Even more deeply, perhaps Joseph wondered about was the child’s REPUTATION.
After all they weren’t married. Think about it. What in the world was God doing?
Why didn’t God choose a married couple? After all, it is He who fashioned us male and female and called forth making covenants of marriage. Marriage is His thing.
Nine months of awkward explanations, the lingering scent of scandal-it seems that God arranged the most humiliating circumstances possible for his entrance, as if to avoid any charge of favoritism. Small towns do not treat kindly young boys who grow up with questionable paternity.
Joseph must have wondered… he’ll be looked down upon from the start… he may be a social outcast. You’re setting Him into the world as an ILLEGITIMATE child.
Why?
Perhaps because we all may wonder about our legitimacy. Deep down we may wonder if we are a mistake. We may wonder if our existence was really intended… if there is any real purpose or meaning to our unique existence. We live in a world where deep inside we all fear becoming the outcast. …Where prejudice and popularity can leave us out.
Why would such shame be cast upon God’s own life among us?
Perhaps his mind would recall what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah long ago –
Isaiah 53:4-6, 11-12
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
[5] But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him….
[6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
[10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
[11] After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
….. because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many…”
No doubt Joseph knew something of his own shame…. that common sense of shame that separates us from God Himself.
In this tiny baby… God Himself would now bear his shame.
Yes, God would bear a shame so common that nothing shameful could ever be far from God.
There lies the wonder to end all wondering.
If you’ve ever wondered if God could be with you… really with you, …
…know that you can never be out of God’s reach.
Yes we want this world to be filled with God. But I also want my world filled with God.
For Christ did not come simply into a world “out there,” but to enter the world right here…. Every crack and crevice of human life.
> And through His presence our world becomes sacred again.
For nobody would leave this event the same. Someone had entered their life.
· Joseph’s house would never be the same…because God had entered.
- There was sure to still be stress and strife…. But God was with them.
· The shepherds dark and quiet nights would never be the same.
- I’m sure it still got cold…was still short on human conversation and companionship
… but God was with them.
· For the wise men who came from the east, the wonder of the skies would never be the same. - - No doubt they would continue to study the skies and counsel kings as they had done,… but now they knew that God reigned over the stars and stood above any king they could ever counsel.
…God was with them.
Through His presence, their world became sacred again.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all… was that all of this was only the beginning.
The baby would not only enter the lives of all he touched… but would live, die and rise again for every life ever created.
He came…
Not only to be incarnate in this world, but in our worlds.
Not only to be born in this world, but to be born in us.
Came to give life… allowing us to be born again… as we offer him our lives to him.
Jerome was a Church Father who translated the Greek manuscripts into Latin and put the Bible in the language of the people. He purposefully lived in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. One night while living in Bethlehem, Jerome had a dream that Jesus visited him. The dream was so real to him that he collected all his money and offered it to Jesus as a gift. The Lord said, "I don’t want your money." So Jerome rounded up all of his possessions and tried to give them to Jesus. Again the Lord said, "I don’t want your possessions. Jerome then recalled the moment in his dream when he turned to Christ and asked, "What can I give you? What do you want?" Jesus simply replied, "Give Me your sin, that’s what I came for, I came to take away your sin. Give Me your sin."
GOD WITH US… NEVER OUT OF REACH… NEVER ALONE.
Tonight God says … “I’m with you.”
Dr. James Dobson relates a story of an elderly woman
named Stella Thornhope who was struggling with her first
Christmas alone. Her husband had died just a few months
prior through a slow developing cancer. Now, several days
before Christmas, she was almost snowed in by a brutal
weather system. She felt terribly alone--so much so she
decided she was not going to decorate for Christmas.
Late that afternoon the doorbell rang, and there was a
delivery boy with a box. He said, "Mrs. Thornhope?" She
nodded. He said, "Would you sign here?" She invited him
to step inside and closed the door to get away from the
cold. She signed the paper and said, "What’s in the box?"
The young man laughed and opened up the flap, and inside
was a little puppy, a golden Labrador Retriever. The
delivery boy picked up the squirming pup and explained,
"This is for you, Ma’am. He’s six weeks old, completely
housebroken." The young puppy began to wiggle in
happiness at being released from captivity.
"Who sent this?" Mrs. Thornhope asked.
The young man set the animal down and handed her an
envelope and said, "It’s all explained here in this
envelope, Ma’am. The dog was bought last July while its
mother was still pregnant. It was meant to be a Christmas
gift to you." The young man then handed her a book, How
to Care for Your Labrador Retriever.
In desperation she again asked, "Who sent me this puppy?"
As the young man turned to leave, he said, "Your husband,
Ma’am. Merry Christmas."
She opened up the letter from her husband. He had written
it three weeks before he died and left it with the kennel
owners to be delivered with the puppy as his last
Christmas gift to her. The letter was full of love and
encouragement and admonishments to be strong. He vowed
that he was waiting for the day when she would join him.
He had sent her this young animal to keep her company
until then.
She wiped away the tears, put the letter down, and then
remembering the puppy at her feet, she picked up that
golden furry ball and held it to her neck. Then she
looked out the window at the lights that outlined the
neighbor’s house, and she heard from the radio in the
kitchen the strains of "Joy to the World, the Lord has
Come." Suddenly Stella felt the most amazing sensation of
peace washing over her. Her heart felt a joy and a wonder
greater than the grief and loneliness.
"Little fella," she said to the dog, "It’s just you and
me. But you know what? There’s a box down in the basement
I’ll bet you’d like. It’s got a little Christmas tree in
it and some decorations and some lights that are going to
impress you. And there’s a manger scene down there. Let’s
go get it."
A love a transcended her loneliness. How much more tonight can we know that we’re not alone if we’ll open the door.
God comes to the door not with a puppy, but with the presence of his son.
Rev. 3:20 (CEV)
Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.
