So...Christmas.
I don't know about you out there reading this, but for me it is a strange thing to have to think about Christmas at the end of May, when it has been in the 90's. In addition it is strange to put yourself in a Christmas mind set when there are no songs on the radio, no decorations in the stores, no complaints about what people are required to say to you in way of a greeting. But, in the end I suppose the lack of all of that actually makes this more of an original Christmas feeling, after all the "trappings" of Christmas came hundred's of years later. So, perhaps it is right and good that I am about to talk about Christmas when it has been in the 90's.
Luke's Christmas story begins with governmental oversight interrupting a pregnancy. I can't begin to imagine any aspect of what a woman goes through during pregnancy, but I especially can't fathom what it must have been like for Mary to get her butt up on an ass for the journey to Bethlehem. I imagine that most other Messiah-mom candidates would have put an end to the whole endeavor right then and there. But Mary, the dutiful bride to be/mother of the savior to be does her duty and accompanies Joseph along the sandy paths to Bethlehem. Once there they find that there is no room in the inn, which was most likely just someone's house, but they are given/find some amount of space among the animals because when Jesus is born they place him in a feed trough.
While Mary has been journeying the rest of the world has been going about its business. Imagine that, Christmas is happening and no one is the wiser. Bakers are baking. Farmers are farming. Business people are conducting business. The government is working through the tedious census that will account for the Israelites so that they may be taxed by Rome correctly. And Shepherds are shepherding. Well, until an angel appears in their midst. Then it hits the fan.
The shepherds have been watching and waiting, not for an angel, not for good news, but rather for the crack of a branch, for the muffled sound of paw on ground, for danger, for disaster, for death. It's unsurprising that in that particular state of mind the Shepherds are frightened upon the "sudden appearance" of the angel. Then the angel speaks, and it speaks the most used statement in the Bible, "DO NOT BE AFRAID!" It tells them that Messiah has come and that they get to have the front row seat to a whole new era of life.
And friends, that is what Jesus brought, a whole new era of life. He says as much himself later when he tells his followers that he has come that we may have life and have it to the full. No longer must we walk through each day have living and half dead. We can be awake in every moment, feeling everything within us and around us and among us. We can live. Yet, all these years later we are still trying to figure out what the Jesus was all about. He was about LIFE.
So the angel tells them this news and then a whole choir joins the first angel and they all get down in the first Christmas song, singing glory to God and wishing the world peace. Glory to God. Peace on Earth. Yet, all these years later we are still trying to figure out what God wants. God wants our PRAISE and for us to be in PEACE.
So, the angels sing and leave and the shepherds decide to leave their flocks behind, a decidedly in shepherd thing to do, and rush to town where they find Mary and Joseph and the baby. The shepherds relay the story and Mary takes it into her heart, then they go back to their flocks in the fields.
8 days later.
Huh? What? 8 days later? Is that really what we are doing here Doc?
8 days later, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to be circumcised. Then after some more time during which Mary observes the required [by religious law] post birth ceremonial days, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord, along with the required [again by religious law] sacrifice of "two turtledoves or young pigeons."
While at the temple the new family encounters two old people, Simeon and Anna, Simeon is a man in touch with the Holy Spirit [side note: the Holy Spirit is very important to Luke, especially in the second act of his two act story, Acts], in fact he is so much in touch with the Holy Spirit that he has been told that he would not die before seeing Messiah. He sees Jesus in the arms of Mary and immediately knows that this is the one he has been waiting for. He picks up Jesus and blesses God, then he tells Mary how Jesus will cause the RISE and FALL of many.
At that very moment Anna, a prophetess, appears on the scene. She was a widow after only 7 years of marriage, now 84, Luke tells us she was deeply devoted to God, always in the temple, fasting and praying. She comes close to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and she starts speaking thanks to God and goes on from that place spreading the news of Messiah to all who would listen. Then the young family leaves Bethlehem and returns to their home in Galilee, where Jesus grew in physical strength and in wisdom and where the grace of God rested on him.
12 years later.
Huh? What? Again Doc?
12 years later, the Mary and Joseph are on their annual trip to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Passover, and this time 12 year old Jesus accompanies them. After several days in Jerusalem they once again set out for Galilee, one day into their journey home Mary and Joseph realize that Jesus isn't with them. While this is shocking for us to think about, back then people traveled in large groups of friends and family and so this is a caravan of people who journeyed to and from Jerusalem, Jesus could have been playing with cousin Fred or riding on Aunt Martha's donkey. Upon learning that their son is not with them they hurry back to Jerusalem.
Luke tells us that they had been separated 3 days when they finally find Jesus, so one day of travel, another day of travel back, and a third day of searching. They find Jesus in the temple in a discussion among the religious leaders. The leaders and those around were astonished at the depth of this 12 year old boy, his mother on the other hand was simply being a mom, asking him why he treated them the way he did. Jesus's reply, "You should have known." He tells them that he had to be about his father's work and they are confused. The virgin told by angel that she was going to give birth to the Messiah is confused about her miracle son's father. It just goes to show you that while Jesus was the son of God he was also a boy, who most likely gave his parents the same grief that our children give us.
We begin with obedience to the government, we move on to obedience to religion, and we end up with a 12 year old boy that will soon turn all of that on its head. But at the base we are left with LIFE, PRAISE and PEACE that inevitably leads to the RISE of some and the FALL of others. This is important friends, because while some seek life others will hold on to their half lives. While some praise, others will keep silent. While some seek peace, others will long for conflict and war and death. While some rise, others will inevitably fall.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
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