This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 7pm.
Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them
in the inn.
Prayer: May the words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock
and our Redeemer. Amen.
Our Gospel reading for
Christmas from Luke 2, starts like this: In those days a decree went out
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the
first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ,
was about to be born in the flesh. He was true God, equal to the Father and the
Holy Spirit, and yet at the same time he came down from heaven and took human
flesh from the Virgin Mary. This is at the centre of the whole Christian faith:
Jesus is both true God and true man. He has God the Father as his own father,
and the Virgin Mary as his true human mother.
Now, why does the bible
passage about Christmas start by talking about Caesar Augustus and the
governor of Syria Quirinius? Let’s hear the passage again: In those days a
decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of Syria. The
first thing we learn from this is that the birth of Jesus Christ is not a myth
or a fairy story, but that it happened at a certain time in history, when
certain world leaders were in charge. If something of this significance were
going to happen today, we might say: Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of
England and the British Commonwealth, and Malcolm Turnbull was the
prime-minister of Australia.
But secondly, we need to
take notice of Caesar Augustus and think about exactly who he was. Caesar
Augustus was born in 63 BC and was adopted by his great-grand-uncle, Julius
Caesar. Eventually, this boy became the Emperor of the whole Roman Empire. He
was considered so great that even while he was still living people built altars
dedicated to him and worshipped him as a god. In fact, one of his titles was
“The son of a god”.
Meanwhile, while this man
was exalting himself to be a god, the Almighty God of heaven and earth humbled
himself to become a man. A mere man made himself into a god, while the true God
made himself into a man.
And so, while this was all
happening in Rome, God was doing a wonderful thing in Bethlehem. From a human
point of view, Rome was the centre of the world, but from God’s point of view
it was small town in Judea, in modern-day Israel, called Bethlehem, that was
the centre of the world.
Now it so happened, that
during the reign of Caesar Augustus, his whole empire was so well managed, that
there was a great time of peace that prevailed. There were no wars, no
uprisings, no battles. It was a time of great peace. And so, Caesar Augustus used
this opportunity to take a census of his entire empire so that he could make
everyone pay tax. It says: A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be registered.
We also read: This was
the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. St Luke tells
about this, because he wants to tell us the man who organised this particular
census, and this particular registration. Here we can work out exactly when the
time of Jesus’ birth was, in the year 6 BC.
Then we read: And all
went to be registered, each to his own town. Here we learn how the process
of the census worked. Today when we have a census, the government send forms
around to our homes, and we have to fill them in and wait for them to be
collected. Or else, they ask us to fill them in online, and the whole thing
crashes! But in these times, the people had to go to their own hometown, the
place where their ancestors lived, and be registered there.
Isn’t it strange that at
Christmas time we should be discussing the ways in which censuses were
conducted 2000 years ago? Isn’t it a strange thing that the bible passage which
describes the birth of Jesus talks about all these things –Caesar Augustus, the
governor of Syria Quirinius, the census, the process, and all this? Why does St
Luke tell us all these things?
We read: And Joseph also
went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of
David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
So now we see that it
wasn’t just everybody in the whole Roman empire that was moving around and
travelling to their hometown, but now St Luke wants to tell us about a
particular family that were travelling their own hometown. It says that Joseph
also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth. Mary and Joseph lived
in Nazareth, but they went to travel to Bethlehem, because Bethlehem was his
family’s hometown. Joseph was part of King David’s family and was from his
lineage, and so he went to the town where King David was born, which was
Bethlehem. The prophets also foretold that the Christ would come from the
family of King David.
Now in the Gospel of
Matthew we read that when the wise men came to visit King Herod to find the
baby Jesus they wanted to know where the King of the Jews would be born. It
says: Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [King
Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In
Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: And you, O Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from
you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
So we read in our reading
that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to Bethlehem at this particular time
when Caesar Augustus was holding a census. We learn here that God uses world
leaders and world events to shape things for the blessing of the whole world.
It’s not as if God the Father takes Mary and Joseph in some magical or
supernatural way to Bethlehem. No—this happens through real events in world
history: in this case, a real census that was ordered by a real Roman emperor,
Caesar Augustus.
Every Christmas too, we can
look back at the whole year and see that the world has changed since last year.
Maybe it has changed for what we think is the better, or maybe we think it has
changed for the worst. Since last Christmas, there have been things that have
happened all around the world, all around Australia, all around Queensland,
even around Maryborough that are unique to 2017. And world history is never
going to be quite the same again. This year has been a unique year, just as 2016
was, 2015 was, and so forth. God has used all the events of the previous year
to shape and direct the world for the blessing of everyone.
How has God shaped and
moved you this year? Has he moved you from a Nazareth to a Bethlehem? Has he
changed your opinion about something? What are the circumstances that have even
led you to come and hear the words of Jesus in this church today? How has God
brought you to this point in your life, just as he brought Mary and Joseph to
Bethlehem?
Let’s look back at our
reading. It says: Joseph went to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who
was with child. Here we read something that is very unusual, and especially
for those days. If Joseph would have been travelling with Mary from Nazareth to
Bethlehem to be registered, we would assume that they would have been married.
In those days, if they weren’t married, they probably wouldn’t have been
allowed to travel together. These sorts of matters would have been very
important then.
But the text doesn’t say
that Mary was his wife, but it says that she was his betrothed, his
fiancée, and it also says that she was with child.
St Luke calls Mary his
betrothed, Joseph’s fiancée, because he wants to emphasise that the child is
not Joseph’s child. This child is not the result of Joseph and Mary’s marriage,
but existed before they were married.
Now, many people today
would explain this very simply: they would say this is a “shotgun wedding”.
They would say that Joseph and Mary went to bed together before they were
married.
But this is not what the
bible claims, and this explanation is not the Christian faith. The Gospel of
Matthew tells us the following: When Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together [before they had been married, before any sexual
relations] she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And
later we read: Joseph did as the angel commanded him: he took his wife, but
knew her not until she had given birth to a son. When the bible talks about
“knowing” a person, it’s talking about sexual relations between a man and a
woman. The bible says that he knew her not. In the Gospel of Luke, when
the Angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary, and tell her she will become
pregnant, Mary says the same thing: How
will this be, since I do not know a man?
So it is a central belief
of Christianity, that Jesus’ mother was in fact a virgin. So who was the
father? God the Father was the Father, and Jesus was conceived by the Holy
Spirit. This is the Christian faith. Of course, this has never happened before
and it will never happen again. But that does not mean that this is impossible.
In fact, when the Angel Gabriel went to Mary, he said these powerful words: Nothing
will be impossible with God. And these words ring out over the entire life
of Jesus.
And so we read in our reading: And while [Joseph and
Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth. And she gave
birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in
a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
You can see that God provided the occasion for Mary and
Joseph to travel through the census. Mary didn’t choose the time and place for
her son to be born, but God chose it, and the prophecy was fulfilled. And Mary
found herself having to put their little baby in a manger, in an animals’
feed-trough, in a stable, because there was no room in the inn. All the
hotels and motels in town were all filled up with other people.
And so the life of Jesus, the eternal Son of God in human
flesh, begins. Jesus, who is true God, is born of a true virgin. And Jesus
never promotes himself, but has the simplest, and humblest, and poorest of
births, and the simplest of beginnings. The time, the place, the circumstances
are all chosen for him and by him.
The man Caesar Augustus
exalts himself as god, and at the same time the true Almighty God humbles
himself to become a small tiny baby.
Caesar Augustus want to
take a census of his whole empire, but Jesus is born so that he would enrol his
whole empire, the whole world in the book of life.
Joseph and Mary are moved
by the Holy Spirit from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and we are constantly moved by
the Holy Spirit from darkness to light, from sin to forgiveness, from weariness
to rest, from sadness to joy.
Jesus shows us his great
power as God, how he was able to allow himself to be born at a particular place
at a particular time according to the prophecy, but he does this in great weakness,
humility, great gentleness, great poverty, lying in a manger in a stable. And
by doing this, the little stable in Bethlehem becomes the centre of the world,
the focus of the whole universe, the place where angels want to look in, the
place where shepherds run to, the place where stars shine down upon.
What a wonderful thing it
is to come and be in the presence of that same Lord, that same Jesus, that same
Saviour today, to receive from him the forgiveness of all our sins, his great
comfort, his great peace and his great joy! What a wonderful thing it is that
Jesus comes to meet us in his word, in baptism by giving us his Holy Spirit and
in the Lord’s Supper by giving us his body and blood! What a wonderful thing it
is that our God comes to meet us where we are and takes us on his journey for
us with him, to allow us to grow with him in faith from baby steps into
adulthood. And what a wonderful thing it will be when this same child, this
same Jesus, this same Saviour, will welcome us in to his inn, where there will
never be any lack of room. As Jesus says: In my Father’s house are many
rooms and I am going to prepare a place for you.
Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Amen.
Lord God, heavenly Father,
we thank you for sending your Son into the world to be born as a tiny baby in
Bethlehem. Send us your Holy Spirit, and send us your gift of faith and peace
and joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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