The History of His
Story
December 24, 2013
Luke 2:1-20
Nearly
everyone has seen the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It was in the
T.V. listing for tonight, but since you decided to come here instead, let me
tell you what you’re missing. The story centers on George Bailey, the owner of
a local Savings and Loan, but that was not the life he had envisioned for
himself. He had dreams of travel and adventure, but after his father suddenly
passed away, the responsibility for sustaining the family business fell to him.
He became a reluctant but responsible banker.
A series of
setbacks left him discouraged and despondent to the point where he sought to
end his own life by jumping off a bridge into an icy river. That’s where Clarence, the wingless angel
enters the story. He pulls George from
the water and saves his life. That’s the
easy part. The hard part is to save his
soul, to somehow convince George that his life matters and that he is
important. If he doesn’t do that George
will just try to take his own life again.
Anyone in the field of mental health can tell you that bucking up
someone with low self-esteem and helping them overcome depression are hard
work. Just telling someone that they are
important and that they matter won’t necessarily make them believe it.
Of course,
therapists don’t have the power of God to re-write and rearrange history. In the movie, Clarence does, and he shows
George what his community would look like if he had never existed at all. Most of the film reveals how the history of
that little town would change if George Bailey never existed. In that revelation George realized that he
had made a difference in ways he never imagined. Little favors had made a big difference in
someone’s life. A kind word had lifted
someone’s day. Small things he hadn’t thought much about turned out to be
important in ways he could never imagine.
George
Bailey’s salvation came when he realized that he was important in this small
town and that the challenges he faced were overshadowed by the love that he
both gave and received. He was saved not when the townspeople came to his
financial rescue, but at that moment he turned home ready to deal with whatever
life had to offer. Love changed his
story, and it changes ours.
That is the
essence of the Christmas story. It accounts for the way God’s love entered our
world, and hopefully our lives. Before
we look at the connection let us pray:
Lord, at a
singular moment in time, in a particular place, you entered our world so that
people in every time and in every place might experience the reality of your
abiding presence. For that reason we
believe history matters, and that the story of each individual life is
important. As you have entered our
world, enter our lives and hearts we pray through that babe born in
Bethlehem. Amen.
“And it came to pass in those days,
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
taxed.”[1] So, Luke began his Christmas story, his
account describing the birth of Jesus.
The language is that of an historian with proper attention to names,
places, and dates. These things
matter. They are important because they
confirm the credibility of the story.
By the time
Luke sat down to put down on paper the life of Jesus, it had already become
layered with customs and traditions, myths and legends that were more fiction
than fact. In the same why our modern
Christmas celebration blends history with fantasy so did people in Luke’s day
embellish the story to the point where Jesus was becoming part wizard and part
superman. He was no longer human, no
longer God incarnate. Luke knew there is
a difference between fantasy and reality, between wishful thinking and real
hope, so he tried to track Jesus down, to do the same thing scholars today do
when they search for the historical Jesus.
He just wanted to report the facts. So, like a reporter for the
Washington Post he interviewed witnesses.
“What did you see? What did you
hear? When was this? Where were you? Was anybody else there?”
That’s when
he learned of Jesus’ birth. There were
witnesses who remembered a bright star.
Others remembered Herod’s rage when strangers from the east spoke of a
newborn king. The blue-collar folk were
puffed with pride when they described the shepherds place in the story. They still spoke with awe about that silent
and holy night.
Painstakingly, Luke jotted down his
notes and organized what he uncovered in his investigation, and wrote the
gospel we have today. He began by saying, “I decided after careful
investigation to write an orderly account so that you may know the truth…”[2]
The truth
he sought to convey in his narrative of the birth of this baby born in
Bethlehem is that in this moment in time God entered human history in an
utterly unique way. He became, “Emmanuel”
– God with us. From that truth we learn
that in the eyes of God, history matters.
What we do is as important to God as it is to us. Our lives are significant and laden with
meaning and purpose. God is not just
standing far off in the distance watching.
The Lord has a vested interest in the history we create for ourselves.
Jesus, more
than any other man has shaped much of the history that is behind us. Imagine, if you well, what our history would
look like if like George Bailey, Jesus had never been born. Consider all of the schools and hospitals,
all of the orphanages and rehab centers, all of the caring institutions that
feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and minister to the sick in the name of
Jesus. Would they still exist if you
took Jesus out of history? Remove him
from the story and how many of these would have been created?
More than
the institutions, consider the way that the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed
the way people look at each other. If
you’re a woman you want to remember the way he elevated women to equal stature,
which at the time was an absolutely unique view. The woman at the well, the woman caught in
adultery, Mary Magdalene were all despised by their culture, but he knelt down
and pulled each one up so as to tell the world this is a person of worth and
value like every other person.
In fact,
the notion of human equality for everyone was born in the gospel. Paul put it this way, “There is no longer Jew
or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”[3] The distinctions that people created to
classify and categorize according to class and race were dashed in Jesus
Christ.
When our
forefathers wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are
created equal”, they did not discover a new concept. They didn’t think this up on their own. They were just affirming that which they had
learned from the gospels, “that we are endowed by our creator with certain
inalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”[4] It was upon this philosophical and
theological assumption that our nation was formed and the freedoms we enjoy
were confirmed. Take Jesus out of
history, remove him from the story, and our nation would look very different
today.
Take Jesus
out of history and your story might read differently as well. How many of us have in our past a parent or
relative who loved the Lord and passed that love upon us? How many can remember a Sunday School teacher
or Youth Advisor who made a difference?
How many can point to a fondly remembered pastor or Stephen Minister and
say, “When I needed her, she was there for me?”
Take Jesus out of history and you have taken him out of their lives and
if you take him out of their lives then your life might not be as meaningful as
it is today.
Luke
understood this and that is why he included so much history in the gospel. He wants to tell is this is real. It really happened. Names, places, dates are all accounted for so
that you, the reader might understand that this is no fable. It is not “once upon a time in a land far,
far away.”
If that is
so, then the gospel demands some kind of response. Some people react to this the same way they
react to anything that happened in the past.
To them it doesn’t matter. They
don’t see how the here and now can be affected by back then and there. They don’t see the cause behind the effect
nor do they appreciate how those who came before us shape us all. Their response to the gospel is a yawn.
Others
appreciate their place in history and even acknowledge the veracity of the
gospel, but reject it for the demands it would make upon them. They want to live the way they want to live
and don’t want anyone, even God, telling them otherwise. Their response to the gospel is to turn their
back.
But, there
are those and many are here tonight who have recognized not only Jesus’ place
in history, but also his place in their lives.
They have acknowledged the difference he has made. Their response to the gospel is an open hand
and open heart. It is the response of
the shepherd who has come to worship. It
is the response of the Magi who bring all of themselves to the manger. The
birth of Christ is both an historical event and a personal experience.
At the end
of this worship service, we will pass the flame taken from the Christ
candle. It will move from person to
person in much the same way the gospel moves from person to person. To receive the flame only requires that you
hold out your candle. It is both an active and passive action.
To receive
Christ is also both an active and passive action. The passive part is to just let go and let
God, to receive the blessings God has to give.
The active part is to reach out in prayer, “Lord, I am a sinner in need
of salvation, and I believe Jesus Christ through his life, death, and
resurrection fulfills your promise.
“Come, Lord Jesus come.”[5]
If this is
your prayer, you have already received the greatest Christmas gift possible,
life meaningful and fulfilling today, and life forever in God’s kingdom.
Let us pray:
O holy
Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray:
Cast out
our sin and enter in, Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angel, The
great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our
Lord Emmanuel!
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