A War Cry: A Baby - Luke 2:1-7 (HIUMC)
Our
war march began in Bethlehem. We
recognized that this little town is more than a sleepy little village of
Christmas cards and carols, and holds a very dark history—a history of idolatry
and betrayal, a history of prejudice and brutality, a history of violence and
death. When the Lord of all Creation
decided to take on sin and evil once and for all, He entered on front lines—He
entered this town plagued with its diminutive size and its past. In doing so, God says to each of us, “there
is no place that is too small and no place too dark for Me to enter in and
bring light, hope, and victory.”
As
we continued, we discovered Mary—not the Mary that so many young girls
volunteer to be in all her splendor and glory in the popular Christmas
pageants—but the real Mary, a scared, hesitant volunteer in God’s battle
plan. A young thirteen year old girl who
risked and was rejected by family and her community, and possibly narrowly
escaped stoning, as she found herself unwed and pregnant. Her only refuge, an older cousin and her
husband, who were in the midst of their own holy pregnancy, a fiancé that had
at one point decided to abandon her—but moved up the wedding date and married
her early, and the power of the Holy Spirit filling her with the assurance that
she was bearing God’s rescue plan to the world.
The
fiancé turned husband, Joseph, after His own divine “war council,” agreed to
enter into this plan to bring God’s salvation into the world and in doing so
placed his reputation, financial security, and family relations on the
line. The rejection of his family in
Bethlehem, relegating he, his laboring wife, and his son-to-be-born stepson to
the filthy family stable proved that sometimes the worst case scenario does
play out. Yet when it does, we can be assured
that it will not prevent God from brining his plan and glory into the world.
Humiliation
from the beginning…
Can
you imagine…
…having created the first of humanity
from the dust of the ground, breathing into that man the very breath that gave
him life…being the one who knits together each life in their mother’s womb…now
finding Himself clinging to life, tied to an umbilical cord that pumps the same
life force He created into Him, and traveling that same canal that gives birth
to each life, He, the Breather of life, gasping for His own first breath with a
cry…
…having spoken the lush green Garden of
Eden into existence…with its pristine clear waters and deep blue skies finding Himself
laid in the feeding trough of animals in a cave that was filled with the odor
of sweating animals and their waste?
…having provided quail and manna in the
desert to His people who were starving to needing to suckle at Mary’s bosom for
nourishment?
…having been seated in the holy throne
room, in the midst of all the angels singing praises to His Name because His
holiness radiated pure light to finding Himself dependent upon having His soiled
garments changed and being cleaned up by hands other than His own…
Can
you imagine anything more humiliating?
Humiliation
to the end…
Can
you imagine…
…having brought the waters of the Red Sea
crashing down upon Pharaoh and his army standing before the judgment seat of
Governor Pilate…
…having been the One who brought Gideon
and his three hundred men victory over the Midianites and Amalekites who were
as “countless as the sand on the seashore,”[i]
being beaten and whipped by a couple of Roman soldiers until His flesh hung
loose.
…having worn a crown made up of the light
of the stars of the skies having His brow pierced by a crown of thorns forced
upon His head as soldiers spit on Him and mock His reign.
…having been the One who put enough
strength in the arms of Samson to bring down the pagan house upon the
Philistines having His arms stretched out and nailed to a cross.
Can
you imagine anything more humiliating?
As
Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi:
…Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled
himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.[ii]
Born
in a barn…
Raised
by a carpenter…
Eating
with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners…
Touching
lepers…
Washing
feet…
Dying
with two thieves…
The
Great ‘I Am’ enduring humiliation to bring us salvation.
If
the God of the universe is willing to undergo that kind of humiliation from the
stable to the cross to bring us salvation, what are we willing to endure to
join Him as He continues to wage war in our world? Paul, as he reflected on the humility of
Christ, preceded those verses by saying, “Let the same mind be in you that was
in Christ Jesus.”[iii]
Are
we willing to come out of our homes and offices to sit, not with a business
owner or city official, but to dine with the homeless?
Are
we willing to cheerfully complete any task offered us, whether it uses our
specific skills or talents, or is something others would consider menial work
that anyone could do? Are we willing to
wipe noses and bottoms, take out trash, roll silverware, or do whatever needs
doing?
Are
we willing to have our character questioned and motives discerned?
Can
we say, with the Psalmist, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand
elsewhere. I would rather be a
doorkeeper in the house [simply tasked with serving amongst the beggars] of my
God than live in the tents of wickedness…”[iv]?
This
morning our Savior, who was born in a barn, ate with sinners, and died upon a
cross, invites us to come and join Him in his humiliation and commit our lives
to serving Him not only wherever He may send us, but however, He may ask.
In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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