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Readings (click here for full-text of the readings)::
Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14(15-20)
I. I’ve always loved mysteries
A. Loved the way the savvy detective saw things that nobody else did
1. He exposed their false assumptions
2. He pointed out the inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony
3. In the end, the good guy is saved, the bad guy goes to jail, and we all live happily ever after
4. And we feel like we know the truth
B. Sometimes being a mystery-lover can be life-saving (literally)
1. Cussler story: 20 years ago
2. I saw the moral of the story as that I didn’t have to listen to my mother all the time
a) She didn’t see things that way
b) And, being my mother, she won out
II. So what does all this have to do with Christmas?
A. The Christmas story – the whole no-room-at-the-inn, born-in-a-manger, wise-men-following-the-brightest-star-in-the-sky thing – is much more mysterious than most of us realize
B. But it’s in the Bible, right?
1. Only two of the four gospels mention it: Matthew and Luke
2. And from those two brief accounts, a lot of embellishing has happened over the years
C. Assumption: the wise men followed the star to Jesus
1. Only Matthew talks about wise men, or Magi, who were wealthy and powerful
2. Luke, which we heard tonight, only mentions poor shepherds coming to Jesus
D. Assumption: there were three wise men, or Magi
1. Matthew only says that wise men brought three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh
III. If Sherlock Holmes or Ellery Queen or even Columbo interrogated the four gospel writers about the birth of Jesus, they’d figure out pretty quick that Mark and John hadn’t seen a thing, and Matthew and Luke didn’t agree on much at all
A. A lot of people don’t want to hear that
1. They want everything to be crystal-clear, black-and-white
a) This is exactly the way it happened, and this is what it means to us today
b) In other words, “Don’t mess with Christmas.”
2. They want to box the baby Jesus into a manger with three wise men, so that they can also box the savior Jesus into one holiday a year, that he has to share with Santa
B. But if we look at what the Bible really says, we’d see that things aren’t that cut-and-dried
1. And we’d also see that the birth of Jesus isn’t all that important, in the grand scheme of things
a) Only two books in the Bible even mention it
(1) They don’t spend much time on it
(2) And they never refer back to it, because there are more important things to discuss
2. That very first Christmas wasn’t the center of the story
a) It was a first step, a start to the story
b) In the great mystery of Christianity, it was the hook
(1) The thing that draws you in
(2) The thing that makes you curious, and want to keep reading
C. And what do we find when we read on?
1. We find cryptic statements that have challenged theologians for the last two thousand years
2. We find promises that seem too good to be true, except that it’s God who’s making the promises and nothing is too good for God
3. And we find a call to each one of us, God’s children all, to follow Jesus not just to the manger, but to wherever He calls us to go, every day for the rest of our lives
D. This isn’t all that radical – I think Mary and Joseph knew all this back then
1. Because it was nice that the wise men dropped by, however many of them there were
2. I bet they appreciated the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, even if – like most of us here – they didn’t know exactly what “frankincense” was
3. But Mary and Joseph had more pressing concerns
a) They had a baby to feed and keep warm
b) They had diapers to change
c) And most of all, they had a child to love and adore
4. For Mary and Joseph, the manger wasn’t the culmination of anything
a) It was the beginning of everything
b) Untold joys and unimaginable heartache lay ahead of them
c) As did all the firsts: the first smile, the first tantrum, the first “I love you”, the first time their son tried to do something on his own, the first time He didn’t need their help
E. And that’s precisely how God hopes we feel right now
1. That Christmas is more anticipation than resolution
2. That tonight is fine, and fun, festive
a) But all it really is is a prologue, a hook, an invitation to walk with God each day from this point on
3. And that the details – the manger and wise men and even the frankincense – are less important than the people
a) It’s kind of like that mystery I read late into the night when I was a teenager
b) At the time I thought it was brilliant prose, better than Hemingway
(1) Now I realize that it’s pretty shoddy writing, full of hyperbole and clichés
c) But that doesn’t take away from the experience
(1) Because the key to that experience wasn’t the book that gave me the knowledge to save my father’s life
(2) The key to that experience is that my father’s life was saved, and over the past twenty years he’s had a wealth of experiences, and touches many other lives in turn
4. Certainly the Bible isn’t a cheap thriller, but the point holds true
a) We don’t worship the Bible
b) We are, after all, not Biblians, but rather Christians
c) We follow Jesus Christ, whose story begins tonight
d) And the story that He told is one for the ages, full of humanity, and mystery, and meaning, and salvation
(1) “I came that you might have life, and have it in abundance.” That’s what Jesus said.
(2) Lives will be saved.
(3) Babies will be born.
(4) Eager kids will get up early and tear the wrapping paper off Christmas presents.
(5) Families will come together at special times of year, like this one. And ultimately it’s not the occasion that brings them together that’s most important. It’s that they’re together. And God is there, too.
(6) As the famous hymn says, in the best summary of Christmas that I know,” wherever true love is, God Himself is there.”
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