Sermon December 24, 2020 Rev. Peter Hofstra
Luke 2: 10, But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good
news of great joy for all the people, and don’t we need it? How does the song go? For we need a little Christmas, right this
very minute…we need a little Christmas now…
The angels told the shepherds not to
be afraid, when they had good reason to be.
Until they identified themselves, this is the most impressive
Unidentified Flying Object in the Bible since the opening chapter of the
Prophet Ezekiel. But the angels told
them not to be afraid, that which was unidentified was now identified.
For those following over the last
few weeks, we have been looking at this good news of which the angels
sing. From the Old Testament, we have
engaged with the prophecies of the Old Testament that look to Jesus’
birth.
What the angels are telling us is
news of great joy for the all the people.
Born in the City of David is a Savior, who is the Messiah, the
Lord. Such is the good news of great
joy, to all the people. And I would be
willing to bet that Luke would have no idea of just what that meant. For him, all the people, the whole world, it
seems to be contained within the Roman Empire.
I say that because of the very first verse, “A decree went out from
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.”
Did Luke not know there was a world beyond the Roman
Empire? Certainly not a civilized one,
if you believe the propaganda. Because
the New Testament gives us a skewed view of life in the Roman Empire. When Jesus went traveling all over the
Promised Land, when Paul and the other Apostles went traveling on their
missionary journeys, that is not the norm of that time and place. People stayed put. That is why Luke goes on to tell us that 3”All went to their own towns to be
registered. 4Joseph 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…” Joseph was not going back to Bethlehem to
register and then leave.
No,
this was more of a return order. Bethlehem
would register so many people and the taxes were based on the number of people
registered, because where they were from is where they were expected to
stay. If there were one hundred people
registered, if Mary and Joseph departed, the 98 who were left would have to
cover their taxes. Social mobility was a
function of the elite, not the common people.
Notice, Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem through the coming of the Wise
Men, one to three years after Jesus’ birth, and they only fled because God told
them there was danger.
I
love the idea that the angels rising up from where they sang to the shepherds
became the Christmas star that the Magi spotted at its rising. I know Jupiter and Saturn have aligned this
year to provide what is being called the Christmas Star, but the romantic in me
likes the angelic version. It is the
little bit of Christmas lore that I like to fill in, because I do not biblical
support for it.
The
angels have a message for the shepherds, there is sign from God for them to find. “you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” As the multitude of the heavenly host began to sing “Glory
to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” Here is a brief sidenote: THIS is what
the Old Testament is referring to when it calls God the “Lord of Hosts”. God sent them down to sing.
The good news of great joy to all
the people is there for us every year, but I am feeling it more powerfully this
year, because in 2020, all the people of the world are united by this Covid
pandemic. It is certainly not the first
time there has been a global pandemic, but the pandemic flu of 1918-19 was a
century ago. This is the first pandemic
of a truly global community, where technology in the internet and through
social media has connected us like we have never been connected in the past.
Great Britain having to shut down
because of this new strain…how quickly before it hits us? Because it is going to. Yes, vaccines are in the works, but we have them
in the hundreds and thousands where there are millions of us. And our privilege is showing because the US
and its fellow rich nations have locked down purchases of all vaccines against
the rest of the world well into 2021.
Jesus is the Sign and the Messiah
and the Savior and the Lord. Jesus is
the Sign promised through the Prophet Isaiah seven hundred years before this
event. Jesus is the Messiah, promised
from God from the verses just after the fall of Humanity in Genesis 3 and
through the Bible. Jesus is the Savior,
by whose death and resurrection, we are saved from our sins. Jesus is Lord, triumphant over all, even
death itself, for us.
So there is a baby, lying in the hay
in the feeding trough of a stable. Watch
the television portrayals and the animals all seem happy, but Jesus is in their
food dish. This baby brought out a
multitude of the Heavenly Host to sing his praises. Beginning with the shepherds, the good news
of great joy began its journey. It is a
journey that renews the hearts of all who are here in person or online to
celebrate the birth of Christ, of all Christians around the world wherever they
may gather to take a moment at the manger.
It is a journey that carries forward to this very day and this very
place.
Luke tells us that, when the
shepherds left, Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her
heart. I wonder if one of things she
pondered was that the promise of Jesus cuts across all lands and all times,
from that stable in Bethlehem, to all the billions of us today. I wonder if she would delight in our
circumstances today? Because in a world
where the shadow of the pandemic has fallen over us all, how much greater, how
much more powerful is the good news of great joy that is the birth of our Lord
Jesus Christ, because we have the sure and certain knowledge that this promise
is for all the people? Amen.
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