1

Sunday, December 26, 2010

1st Christmas
Good Shepherd Lutheran
Denver, CO
Pastor Dena Williams

The Holy Gospel according to the community of St. Matthew

in the 2nd Chapter
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ

Now after they had left,

an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you;
for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night,
and went to Egypt,
and remained there until the death of Herod.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through
the prophet,
"Out of Egypt I have called my son."

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,
he was infuriated,
and he sent and killed all the children in and around
Bethlehem who were two years old or under,
according to the time that he had learned from the wise
men.

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the

prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
 2

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in

a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,

"Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."

Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went
to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in

place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go there.
And after being warned in a dream,
he went away to the district of Galilee.

There he made his home in a town called Nazareth,

so that what had been spoken through the prophets might
be fulfilled,
"He will be called a Nazorean."

Do you see . . .?

Okay, please take out your Bibles.

Thank you.
Turn to Matthew, Chapter 2, Verse 1.
It’s on page ___ in the New Testament, the second half of the
Bible.
Do you have it?
Good.
Keep your finger on the page, please.

About three years ago, I told my family I was invited to a

national church conference in Chicago called,
“Book of Faith--How Lutherans Read the Bible.”
Our son, Walker’s comment:
“They don’t!”

And he was right!

 3

Somewhere and somehow in the last 50 years or so,

many congregations overlooked the study of the Bible,
and placed more emphasis on other things.

Beginning, however, with that conference in Chicago,

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
began a renewed focus on reading and studying the Bible.
The Lutheran Study Bible is published.
Many congregations now have new Bibles in their pews,
something that, I might point out,
our Good Shepherd congregation did years ago.
People are reading and studying texts with new interest and
enthusiasm all across the United States.

We know we believe in Holy Scripture, we really do.

It seems though, that Lutherans, in general,
have often known more about what they don’t believe about
the Bible,
than they know about what they do believe.

So, let’s learn a little this morning, shall we?

Here we are in Matthew’s Gospel.
And, right there, in Chapter 2, Verse 1
is about all the writer of this Gospel has to say about
Christmas:
“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea . . .”
That’s it—all this writer has to say about the night of the
birth of Our Lord.
Now, the writer goes on to tell a story about Wise Men from
the East coming to Joseph’s house a year or more later,
to visit the child Jesus.
We read the unfortunate Gospel story for today,
about the slaughter of children in Bethlehem,
but of that holy night, of the baby Jesus,
about all we get from Matthew:
“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea . . .”
 4

An approximate time, a general location—that’s pretty much

it.

Okay, now let’s look at Mark’s Gospel.

Please turn to Mark, Chapter 1, Verse 1.
It’s on page ______.
Do you have it?
Good!
Here’s what this Gospel writer has to say about this
Christmas:
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God.”
That’s it!
The writer of Mark has even less to say about the blessed
event than the writer of Matthew!
This writer goes on to tell the story of John the Baptist,
of Jesus’ baptism,
but spares no space for the infant Jesus.

Okay, let’s skip Luke for the moment and look now at John’s
Gospel.
Please turn to John, Chapter 1, Verse 1.
It’s on page _____.
Do you have it?
Isn’t this fun?
It’s not too painful is it?
This Bible Study business?
Here’s what the writer of John has to say about the very
beginning of Jesus’ life:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through him,
and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life,
and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
overcome it.”
Skip down to Verse 14:
 5

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we
have seen his glory,
the glory as of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.”

Welcome to John,
the Gospel of symbols and signs and metaphor.
No realistic details of a birth story to be found here.
Instead, beautiful language that tells us of the Word made
flesh,
come to dwell among us.

Now, let’s look at the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2,

Verse 1.
It’s on page ____.

There it is!
The story we have come to expect,
to know,
to love!
The story we teach our children.

It’s the story we welcome for Christmas!

The one where we see and hear and find
exactly what we expect to see and hear and find.
There it is!
Whew!
What a relief!

There’s a donkey!
Look at Verse 4.
“Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea,
to the city of David called Bethlehem,
because he was descended from the house and family of
David.
He went to be registered with Mary,
to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.”
Wait! He forgot the donkey!
 6

There seems to be no mention of a donkey!

We expect to see and hear and find a donkey,
but he’s not there, is he?
Hmm . . .

The Innkeeper!
Let’s look for him in Verse 7.
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in bands of cloth,
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.”
Wait! He forgot the inn keeper!
We expect to see and hear and find an inn keeper,
someone to say, “No room at the inn!”,
but he’s not there, is he?
Hmm . . .

Singing angels!
Let’s look for them in Verse 13.
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising God and saying . . .”
Saying?!
Wait!
There seems to be no singing angels after all.
We expect to see and hear and find some singing angels,
but they’re not there, are they?
Hmm . . .

You can put your Bibles back in the pew now.

Are you reluctant?
Would you like to read some more?
I hope so.
Let’s put them away for now, though.
Thank you.

No donkey . . .
no inn keeper . . .
no singing angels . . .
 7

This is not what we sign on for when we come to church on

this first Sunday after Christmas.
Perhaps we come to be comforted,
to be comforted through word and song and ritual.
Perhaps we come to renew our faith,
to hear, once again, that God lives among us.
We’re pretty sure, though,
that we did not come to have our illusions destroyed
by some heartless, unsentimental Bible Study lesson.
That’s NOT what we came to see and hear and find.

What did we come to see and hear and find?

What do we see and hear and find?
It’s very simple, really.
We see and hear and find an infant lying in a manger.
That’s pretty much all there is to see and hear and find—
an infant lying in a manger.
That’s all Joseph, the angels, and shepherds
saw and heard and found—
an infant lying in a manger.
Well, thank goodness!
There it is!
Right there in Luke’s story--
all we see and hear and find
is an infant lying in a manger.
That’s all there is,
and it’s enough.

As with all new mothers,

the infant in the manger is all Mary saw, as well.
And for, Luke’s Mary, it is enough.
Mary describes for us what she sees and hears and finds,
there in the infant in the manger.
We call her words, Mary’s song.
The writer of Luke tells us she spoke these words.
They’re found in Chapter 1 of Luke.
Don’t look for them now.
Let me tell you about them, about Mary’s words.
Then, at home, tonight or tomorrow,
 8

will you read these words?

Will you read them aloud with your family?
Or is that a little outside your comfort zone—
to read the Bible aloud with your family?
Will you do it anyway?
Please?
They’re easy to find—
in Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 46.
There you’ll find Mary’s words,
her words that describe what she sees and hears and finds
in the manger.

My soul sees the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.
God looks with favor on me,
the very lowliest of his servants.

From now on, I hear that all generations will call me blessed,
because God, the Mighty One,
has blessed me,
has done great things for me.

I find that God’s name is holy,

that God gives mercy to those who offer their honor and
praise
in every generation.

I hear that God shows great strength,

scatters those who are proud in their hearts.
God brings down the powerful
and lifts up the lowly and humble.

I see that God fills the hungry with good things,

that the rich are sent away empty.

I find that God helps all people.

God remembers to act with mercy
according to the promise made to Sarah and Abraham,
the promise of peace made to all God’s people forever.
 9

So, Mary sees and hears and finds

all she needs,
in the manger:
happiness, blessing, mercy, strength, justice, love, kindness,
peace, the promise of God.

So, may we, and all the world, this Christmas season,
see and hear and find
all we need in the manger:
happiness, blessing, mercy, strength, justice, love, kindness,
peace for us and for all people, the promise of God. Amen